Peer Specialist

About the Role:

The Peer Specialist uses lived experience and peer support skills to help consumers work toward their recovery goals.

The Peer Specialist meets with assigned consumers, provides individual and group peer services, completes outreach and follow-up, connects consumers to community resources, and helps consumers stay engaged in care. Staff must know their assigned consumers, plan daily services, complete documentation on time, monitor assigned KPIs, and tell the manager early when a barrier may prevent the work from being completed. Staff must follow the program manual, approved peer model, ethical standards, documentation rules, and the limits of the peer role. Peer Specialists do not provide therapy, diagnosis, clinical assessment, or services outside the peer role. The Supervisor of Staff may assign other duties.

Essential Functions:

• Provides scheduled and assigned peer services each workday. Reviews the daily schedule and assigned consumers, completes planned contacts, provides groups and community-based support, follows up on missed or needed contacts, coordinates care, and completes documentation. Contacts the manager as soon as possible when a consumer cannot be reached or another barrier may prevent the daily work from being completed.
• Meets annual performance expectations for productivity, quality, documentation, consumer engagement, role-specific KPIs, and 1,200 clinical interaction hours each year unless adjusted based on role, leave, program need, or organizational need. Understands assigned KPIs, tracks progress, uses agency dashboards, and works with the manager on action steps when performance is below expectations.
• Consumer and Service Management: Knows the consumers assigned for peer support, their recovery goals, current engagement, next planned contact, follow-up needs, referrals, barriers, and required documentation. Prioritizes daily work so consumers receive consistent contact and barriers are escalated appropriately.
• Uses lived experience intentionally, selectively, and appropriately to offer hope, reduce isolation, model recovery, and support consumer-defined goals. Self-disclosure must benefit the consumer, maintain professional boundaries, and never shift the focus of the service to the staff member.
• Builds mutual, respectful, recovery-oriented relationships that promote choice, dignity, self-direction, cultural humility, strengths, and consumer voice. Supports consumers in identifying what recovery and wellness mean to them without directing, pressuring, or making decisions for them.
• Supports consumers in developing and using recovery plans, wellness tools, personal safety plans, relapse-prevention strategies, coping skills, self-advocacy skills, and natural supports as allowed by the assigned program manual and peer role.
• Orients new consumers to the program, available services, consumer rights, program expectations, and ways to participate in care. Uses plain language and checks for understanding.
• Provides individual and group peer support using approved peer practices and curricula. Facilitates groups in a way that encourages participation, shared learning, hope, connection, and consumer leadership while maintaining safety and role boundaries.
• Supports consumers with community inclusion and practical recovery activities, including connection to housing, benefits, transportation, food, medical care, education, employment, social supports, recreation, and other resources consistent with the service plan and peer role.
• Partners with consumers before, during, and after appointments or team meetings to help them prepare questions, communicate preferences, understand options, and advocate for their goals. Promotes consumer choice and does not speak for the consumer when the consumer can speak for themselves.
• Collaborates with the integrated treatment team and community partners while protecting the distinct peer role. Shares relevant consumer-directed information, brings forward the consumer perspective, identifies barriers, and avoids clinical interpretation outside the role's scope.
• Documents consumer contacts and work completed on behalf of consumers according to the assigned program manual, peer documentation standards, EHR requirements, billing rules, and agency policy. Documentation describes the peer intervention, its connection to the consumer's goal, the consumer's response, progress, and next steps without using stigmatizing or diagnostic language outside the peer role.
• Uses EHR data and agency dashboards to identify missed contacts, overdue follow-up, documentation gaps, service trends, consumers needing re-engagement, and progress toward assigned KPIs. Reviews data with the manager and completes corrective action steps when needed.
• Participates in treatment team meetings, case reviews, supervision, huddles, and other required program meetings. Provides updates from the peer lens, raises consumer-identified priorities, communicates safety or access concerns promptly, and contributes to coordinated follow-up.
• Maintains ethical peer boundaries, confidentiality, and appropriate use of personal recovery information. Recognizes dual relationships, conflicts of interest, dependency concerns, and boundary risks and brings them to supervision early.
• Recognizes and responds to urgent safety concerns according to training, agency policy, the assigned program manual, and the peer scope. Immediately communicates concerns to the appropriate clinical or supervisory staff and supports the consumer while qualified staff complete clinical assessment or emergency response.
• Participates in required peer, program, compliance, safety, documentation, EHR, evidence-based practice, and population-specific training. Staff are expected to complete required training on time, demonstrate the skills in daily work, and use supervision to strengthen practice.
• Actively participates in audits and quality review with the manager and/or director. This may include in-person observation, audio or video review when permitted, group observation, chart review, documentation review, service verification, dashboard review, and discussion during supervision. Reviews are used to improve peer practice, service quality, documentation, fidelity, and KPI performance.
• Uses program resources responsibly and understands how daily peer services affect service access, staffing capacity, program utilization, transportation, billing, and program sustainability.
• Provides transportation for consumers in agency vehicles when appropriate, authorized, and consistent with the assigned program manual and role.
• Represents the agency and the peer profession in a professional and positive manner when working with consumers, families, community partners, agencies, and the public.
• Identifies program or system barriers through the peer lens and participates in problem solving, implementation, and follow-up. Elevates patterns affecting consumer voice, access, dignity, inclusion, engagement, and continuity of care.

Core Competencies:

• Peer Support Practice: Uses lived experience with purpose, maintains the distinct peer role, supports self-determination, and promotes hope, mutuality, recovery, and consumer voice.
• Flexibility and Adaptability: Adjusts to changing priorities, community settings, consumer needs, and unexpected problems while staying effective, safe, and productive.
• Reliability and Commitment: Follows through on assignments, meets deadlines, arrives prepared, completes daily services and documentation, communicates concerns early, and takes responsibility for mistakes.
• Communication: Shares and receives information clearly, respectfully, and in the right setting. Uses person-first, recovery-oriented, non-stigmatizing language and adapts communication to consumer needs.
• Learning and Self-Development: Seeks feedback, uses supervision, recognizes personal triggers and growth areas, practices wellness and self-awareness, completes training, and applies learning to daily peer work.
• Performance and KPI Alignment: Understands assigned KPIs and uses them to prioritize daily work, track progress, and measure results. Uses the program manual, dashboards, supervision, audits, and manager feedback to improve performance.
• Boundaries and Ethics: Maintains confidentiality, avoids conflicts and dual relationships, uses self-disclosure appropriately, works within scope, and raises ethical or boundary concerns through supervision.
• Code of Conduct, Employee Handbook, Policies, and Emotional Intelligence: Follows the Code of Conduct, Employee Handbook, and workplace policies. Maintains confidentiality, treats others with respect, follows safety and timekeeping expectations, uses technology appropriately, completes required training, and understands how behavior affects others.

Definition Set:

• Capacity-Based Program: A program that must be staffed and ready during set hours, even when few or no clients are actively receiving services at that moment. Staffing is based on keeping the program open, safe, responsive, and available.
• Service-Based Capacity Program: A program that offers services during specific days and hours. Staffing must allow clients to access support when they need it.
• Caseload-Based Program: A program where staff are assigned to a group of clients over time. Staff schedule appointments, monitor engagement, complete follow-up, coordinate referrals, and provide services based on the assigned program manual, program requirements, and role expectations.
• Evidence-Based and Community-Based Program: A program that follows a specific model, manual, or set of best practices. Staff must follow the model, client needs, scope of work, program manual, program requirements, documentation standards, and supervision guidance for their assigned role.
• Productive Time: Time spent working on behalf of clients. This may include direct services, indirect client services, client support, care coordination, documentation, referrals, outreach, and other work that supports client care.
• Billable Activity: Services that meet billing requirements and generate revenue for the program. Each program and role may have specific billable expectations or KPIs.
• Non-Billable Activity: Work that supports clients but does not create a billable claim. This may include outreach, coordination, preparation, referrals, care coordination, or other documented support in the EHR. These activities may still count toward productivity when documented correctly.
• Clinical Caseload Monitoring: Reviewing assigned clients, outreach needs, service plan follow-ups, appointment status, documentation, engagement, referrals, barriers, and services within the assigned role and program manual to make sure clients receive needed support and barriers are escalated when needed.

Qualifications:

• Requires a high school diploma or equivalent; bachelor's degree preferred.
• Lived experience with behavioral health recovery, substance use recovery, or supporting a family member, as appropriate to the assigned peer role and population.
• Peer support certification or credential required when specified by the assigned program, contract, payer, or regulation. Must maintain required credentials and continuing education.
• Ability to work independently in clinic, residential, and community-based settings.
• Valid Colorado driver's license with a clean driving record.
• Bilingual Spanish preferred.

Physical Requirements:

• Regularly required to, stand, sit; talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and keyboard.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision requirements due to computer work.
• Light to moderate lifting is required.
• Regular, predictable attendance is required.

Community Reach Center is an EEO/AAP Employer-Minorities/Women/Disabled/Protected Veterans. Apply at www.communityreachcenter.org 

Schedule:

Monday-Friday 8am-5pm. Based out of Thornton Office. The position is split between the ACT and ASCENT programs. The position includes office and community-based work including supporting clients at Aware Center, in their homes and in the community

Pay Information:

Eligible for $250/month Bilingual Stipend

Starting Pay Range: $23.50 to $25.50 per hour

Application Deadline:

Accepting Applications on an on-going basis