Thank you for your interest in our Parent Peer Support Specialist position. This position requires the person hired to be a parent, whose child has received mental health services, who can provide guidance to other parents experiencing the same circumstances with their child. Please review job description below.

The Mental Health Center of North Central Alabama, Inc.

JOB DESCRIPTION

POSITION TITLE: Certified Parent Peer Support Partner

DIVISION: Children’s Albany Clinic

HOURS: Part-Time OR Full Time - 20 to 40 Hours Weekly - As Assigned

Position Description:

The Parent Peer Support Partner’s (PPSP) role is to provide intentional, authentic support to a parent or primary caregiver of a child with emotional, physical, behavioral, and/or mental health challenges. The skilled PPSP’s unrelenting focus is on the parent/caregiver.

Primary Functions:

• Provide authentic and purposeful support to parents /primary caregivers
• Support parents/primary caregivers in achieving their identified goals
• Deliver intentional support activities that build on the strengths and resiliency traits of parent/primary caregiver
• Collaborate with agency staff internally and representatives from community-based organizations and child-serving systems in providing support to families receiving services.

Essential Skill Requirements: All six of the following PEARLS meta-skills competencies listed below should be reliably and consistently demonstrated in each and every interaction with the parent.

Peer-based relationships:

• Must be able to introduce yourself to the parent/ primary caregiver and explain your role as a PPSP.
• Ability to establish peer-based relationships by using strategic self-disclosure to build connection based on understanding the parent’s experience.
• Ability to build a strong sense of connection based in equality, common respect and mutuality
• Ability to demonstrate active listening skills, empathetic responses and validate the parent’s experience
• Must be able to use person-first and strength based language in every interaction with the parent/primary caregiver

Encourage Growth as a Peer:

• Ability to create conditions for parents to make decisions that are best for their family and determine their course of action
• Ability to estimate right fit and match of support and follow through on a varied range of support activities.
• Support others to understand and appreciate the parent’s positions
• Understand the parent’s position, interests and preferences and actively support them

Actively Accept:

• Continually work to ensure the parent feels empowered and confident in their own decision-making ability
• Ability to extract functional strengths from the parents’ story and share them with family and other team members
• Ability to actively accept parent’s decisions and communicate a sense of acceptance even when you disagree
• Ability to manage personal bias and disagreement so it does not interfere with the support relationship

Respect throughout the relationship

• Ability to communicate a sense of respect that parent voice matters and deserves to be heard
• Ability to identify, extract and utilize the parent’s functional strengths and family culture to develop individualized support plans
• Ability to communicate a sense of cultural humility in connecting with each parent
• Ability to identify unmet needs as a key to establishing understanding
• Ability to assist parents in reflecting on their own journey and encourage empowerment
• Ability to model a relational stance of respect and acceptance in all interactions with and about parents

Link with Others in Collaboration & Problem Solving:

• Build collaborative partnerships with others demonstrating a non-adversarial advocacy approach
• Participate as needed in team meetings
• Connect parents with other parents with similar life experiences to reduce isolation, shame and blame and increase natural supports
• Ability to model a strength based approach and utilize collaborative problem solving techniques with others
• Utilize parent strengths and resiliency traits in problem solving and brainstorming solutions
• Ability to recognize strengths of collaborative partners

Suspend and Interrupt Bias & Blame

Strategically use own life experiences to empower others to suspend their own bias about parents

Education and Certification:

• Education: Must have High School Diploma or G.E.D. + 2 years’ experience with the target population or BA or Associate’s degree (in human services) + 1 year experience with the target population.
• Certificate/Licensure: Current Alabama driver's license and maintain a good driving record.
• Must be a parent / primary caregiver with lived experience who has raised or is currently raising a child with emotional, behavioral, physical or mental health or substance abuse needs, has experience navigating at least two child-serving systems, and meets the requirement to function as a BHT, or BHPP

Minimum Expectations:

• Ability to relate well to clients, a multi-disciplinary staff and the community, ability to work with a team. Must demonstrate and continue to show merit.
• Must read, understand, and abide by agency Policies and Procedures, Employee Handbook and Training Expectations
• Must work the days and hours necessary to perform all assigned responsibilities and tasks, including nights and weekends. Must be available to communicate with supervisors, clients, vendors and any other person or organization with whom interaction is required to accomplish work and project goals.
• Must be punctual and timely in meeting all requirements of performance, including, but not limited to, attendance standards, work deadlines, and beginning and ending assignments on time.
• Must have excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Must have basic typing/computer processing skills
• Must have good organizational and time management skills
• Must be at least 21 years’ old
• Must be able to obtain fingerprint clearance card. Must have a valid driver’s license, dependable transportation and proof of automobile insurance
• Provide support and reassurance, followed by information, to assist parent/primary caregiver in navigating child-serving systems and community resources
• Attend at minimum bi-monthly individual supervision with Program Manager and monthly group supervision sessions with Clinical Director
• Performs other related duties as required. (Related duties as required are duties which may not be specifically listed in the duties and responsibilities description, but are within the general occupational series and responsibility level typically associated with the employee’s class of work.)

Training:

• Completion of a DMH approved Parent Peer Training Program.
• Professionally accepted management of aggressive/assaultive behavior and crisis intervention techniques:
• The training must have been within the past 2 years, and the training must have been conducted prior to working alone with youth.

• Infection control: Staff shall be trained prior to working with youth and annually thereafter.
• Initial training on the following topics:
• Diagnostic categories.
• Classes of psychotropic medications.
• Recovery orientation.
• Interaction with consumers and families.

• Abuse and neglect and all state laws pertaining to abuse and neglect including reporting required by the Department of Human Resources. Training is required prior to working alone with youths and on an annual basis.
• Tuberculosis training must be completed prior to working alone with youth and annually thereafter

Job Types: Full-time, Part-time

Pay: $10.58 - $11.00 per hour

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday
• Weekend availability

COVID-19 considerations:
All State, Local and CDC requirements are adhered to in the work place. COVID vaccines are not required.

Application Question(s):

• This job requires that the person hired be a parent whose child has emotional, physical, behavioral, and/or mental health challenges and who is willing to share that personal experience with other parents who child has emotional, physical, behavioral, and/or mental health challenges. Do you meet this qualification?

Education:

• High school or equivalent (Required)

License/Certification:

• Driver's License (Required)

Shift availability:

• Day Shift (Preferred)

Work Location: One location

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