Peer Support Advocate - Crisis Services - Windsor/Windham Counties

The below duties or working procedures describe the chief functions of the job. They are not considered a detailed description of every duty of the job. The job description is intended to be dynamic in nature, subject to addition or deletion as required by programmatic changes and community needs.

Whenever the term “crisis” is used in this document it is meant as a shorthand way of referring to situations or experiences that are identified as such by the individual(s) experiencing it (though they may choose to use other language), and isn’t meant to imply a universal concept of what crisis means or what it looks like.

Position Purpose:

Mobile crisis services give community members in Vermont the opportunity to access immediate voluntary support when they are in a crisis related to emotional distress or substance use. Mobile Crisis Peer Support Advocates will serve as part of the two-person team that responds to these requests for support, alongside an assessing provider on the HCRS urgent care team. Services will be provided in the community in a wide variety of settings as well as virtually. As this is a 24/7 program, evening and weekend shifts will be required. Peer support is included so that community members have the option of receiving support and advocacy that is informed by lived/living experience, and so that peer support can inform the approach and services of the team as a whole.

Principal Responsibilities and Duties:

• Connect with, listen to, believe, empathize, and co-strategize with community members experiencing crisis who request a mobile crisis response to support them in experiencing relief from distress
• Assist community members to identify and access needed resources
• Maintain awareness of and manage, as needed, the immediate environment around the person who requested services, such as by moving along bystanders, supporting concerned family members, interacting with law enforcement if present, etc.
• Support community members in understanding and exercising their rights while receiving mobile crisis services
• Participate in regularly scheduled meetings and ad-hoc debriefs with other mobile crisis team members to continuously improve and expand each other’s skills, understanding, and approach to rights-centered, voluntary crisis support
• Make follow up connections with people who have received a mobile crisis response to check in, support connection to other resources, solicit feedback, develop plans for how to navigate future crises, etc.
• Provide phone support to people who call the HCRS crisis number looking for emotional support but don’t want a mobile crisis response
• Support the development of mutual support networks and community connections where relevant
• Document services, practicing collaborative documentation where possible
• Participate in regularly scheduled meetings with the larger peer support team
• Assist with peer support tasks outside of mobile crisis services where possible

Key Knowledge, Skills and Abilities to successfully perform this job:

• Excellent relational skills
• Strong communication skills
• Ability to provide honest and compassionate feedback and accountability to people in a wide variety of roles
• Ability to see multiple perspectives and nuances
• Ability to participate in difficult or heavy conversations and be in proximity to people experiencing various kinds of distress
• Ability to be a supportive and collaborative team member

Relationships:

Peer Support Advocates are supervised by the Mobile Crisis Peer Support Team Leader and are part of the Peer Support Team, and work closely with the HCRS urgent care team.

Qualification Statements:

Minimum

• Commitment to the values of mutual support, community, justice, and choice.
• Lived experience of marginalization and/or trauma that supports the ability to connect and relate to people in crisis. This could include various kinds of trauma and marginalization, including madness, neurodivergence, institutionalization, homelessness, incarceration, family separation, loss, addiction, etc.
• Personal or professional experience supporting people in crisis.
• Experience in peer support, harm reduction, community organizing, or other related work
• Familiarity and experience with the psychiatric survivor, mad pride, neurodivergent, harm reduction, transformative justice, and/or disability justice movements

Preferred

• Training in Intentional Peer Support (IPS), restorative/transformative justice, de-escalation, group facilitation, harm reduction, or other related areas
• Personal experience utilizing crisis services

Working Conditions and Additional Information:

This position involves being in a wide variety of physical locations and stressful situations. A driver's license, the ability to drive regularly and for long distances (up to two hours at a time), and a reliable vehicle is required. Interactions with police and emergency responders will be necessary at times.