Family Peer Support Specialist
The Family Peer Support Specialist works with families to provide support, guidance, and advocacy for children experiencing mental health, behavioral, or emotional challenges. Through shared lived experience, the specialist helps families access resources, understand services, build confidence, and strengthen their ability to support their child’s well-being.
Essential Functions and Responsibilities:
- Provide individual and group peer support services to parents, caregivers, and families.
- Share lived experience in a professional manner to inspire hope and model recovery, resilience, and effective navigation of systems.
- Assist families in understanding mental health diagnoses, treatment options, community resources, and service systems.
- Support families in identifying strengths, setting goals, and developing strategies to address challenges.
- Help families build self-advocacy skills and effectively participate in meetings, treatment planning, and decision-making processes.
- Provide information and referrals to community resources including healthcare, education, social services, housing, and financial assistance programs.
- Assist families in navigating county, school, healthcare, child welfare, juvenile justice, and other child-serving systems.
- Facilitate support groups, educational workshops, and family engagement activities.
- Collaborate with treatment teams, community providers, schools, and other stakeholders to promote coordinated care.
- Maintain appropriate documentation in accordance with agency, state, and funding requirements.
- Participate in supervision, training, team meetings, and professional development activities.
- Uphold confidentiality and ethical standards while maintaining professional boundaries.
- Promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and culturally responsive practices in all interactions.
Required Physical Abilities:
- While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and talk or hear.
- The employee frequently is required to travel to all ElevaCare facilities in the catchment area, ambulate within and between departments; reach with hands and arms; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; and taste or smell.
- The employee is occasionally required to sit and climb or balance.
- The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 40 pounds.
- Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
Required Communication/Mathematical/Reasoning Skills:
- Must possess the required level of skills and abilities to read, write, speak, and apply mathematical concepts and sound reasoning to successfully perform the essential duties and responsibilities of this job.
- Must be able to perform basic operations on a computer within the Windows operating system.
- This position requires problem solving skills, critical thinking skills, and the ability to multi-task.
Responsibilities, Expectations, and Standards:
- Commitment to the daily application of ElevaCare’s mission, to serve patients, their families and our community.
- Maintain confidentiality.
- Work effectively in a team environment, coordinating work flow with other team members and ensuring a productive and efficient environment.
- Comply with safety principles, laws, regulations and standards associated with all applicable governing bodies.
Work Environment:
- May be exposed to communicable diseases when working in a health care environment.
- The employee is occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions and outside weather conditions.
- The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
Education, Experience, and Skills Required:
- High school diploma or equivalent required; associate or bachelor’s degree in human services-related field preferred.
- Have raised or be currently raising a child with a mental illness.
- Have experience navigating the children's mental health system.
- Have a valid certification as a mental health certified family peer specialist.
- Valid driver's license, reliable transportation, and ability to travel within the service area as needed.
Essential Qualifications
The individual must be able to work the hours specified above. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required to perform the essential functions. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions, so long as the accommodations do not cause undue hardship to the employer.
This job description is intended to describe the general requirements for the performance of this job. It is not an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities or requirements.