Peer Counselor/Case Manager

About Greater Lakes Mental Health

Greater Lakes Mental Health is a key component of MultiCare’s Behavioral Health Network, providing mental health and substance use disorder treatment for over 10,000 individuals annually across Pierce County.

Providing services for adults, children, and families with Medicaid coverage, Greater Lakes offers 6 convenient mental health care locations including a 16-bed inpatient facility covering medically necessary voluntary and involuntary services to adults.

Our experienced teams, veteran nurses, and robust training plans are designed to support your success and growth in facilitating recovery-oriented and trauma-informed treatment.

FTE : Full Time 1.0, Shift : Day, Schedule : Tues- Sat

This position is currently located at the Tacoma Greater Lakes Clinic (72nd & Portland) but will soon by moving to the main Greater Lakes building in Lakewood.

MUST HAVE WA PEER CERTIFICATION AT TIME OF HIRE

The Forensic Assertive Community Treatment team is the designated treatment provider for Pierce County Felony Mental Health Court.

The team is composed of therapists, peers, an LPN, and an SUDP.

Primary Functions :

FACT Peers are a vital component to the multidisciplinary team approach that our program utilizes. Our peers assist clients in identifying and fulfilling goals that promote recovery and successful community living, as well as ending cycles of jail and / or in-patient stays.

Our peers assist our clients with building the recovery capital needed to gain independence, including housing, vocation, education, benefits, life skills, interpersonal skills, and community resources.

Our peers model and teach skillful behavior that leads to successful community living. The FACT team is an outreach-based team, meeting our clients where they are and assisting with navigating barriers real-time in the community, with approximately 75% of services occurring in the community.

This includes assisting with making and attending medical appointments, transportation support to programming and other appointments, assisting clinical staff with providing crisis and outreach stabilization services, securing housing funding and other DSHS / community resources, working with landlords to develop support for and trust in the model of Independent Supportive Housing, connecting to vocational and education resources, and assisting with monitoring health and safety of all participants in their living environments.

Peers also assist with urinalysis collection. All services are provided under the supervision of a Mental Health Professional.

Secondary Functions :

Develops and maintains effective working relationship with court personnel, jail staff, community corrections staff, and other community providers.

Participates in agency and court staffing, as well as clinical reviews, as requested.

Attends all program and agency mandated trainings and meetings.

May perform special projects as needed.

Job Scope : Our Peers work fairly independently, often out in the community with FACT team participants, under the supervision of a licensed mental health professional with whom they consult on all non-routine issues.

Work involves a variety of routine tasks of low to moderate complexity, which is guided by formal polices and general procedures.

Ideal candidates possess the following competencies :

Customer Service

Communication (written and verbal)

Teamwork

Dependability

Adaptability

Accountability

Initiative

Mission Focused

Professional Boundaries

Ideal candidates have a basic knowledge of or familiarity with the following :

Mental Health Disorders

Substance Use Disorders

Community Resources

Court-Involved Individuals

Position Summary

The Peer Specialist is a key multidisciplinary team position at MultiCare. Providing peer viewpoints about the recovery process, symptom management, and the persistence required by patients with severe and persistent mental illnesses to maintain a healthy lifestyle, you will collaborate to promote a team culture of respect, empathy and understanding.

Responsibilities

• You will provide peer counseling and support, drawing on common experiences as a peer, to validate patients’ experiences and to provide guidance and encouragement to patients to take responsibility and actively participate in their own healthcare and wellness
• You will serve as a mentor to patients to promote hope and empowerment
• You will provide consultation from a mental health consumer perspective to the entire team concerning patients’ experiences on symptoms of mental illness, responses to and opinions of treatment, and experiences of recovery
• You will assist in the provision of direct clinical services to patients on an individual, group, and family basis in the office and in community settings to teach symptom / behavior-management techniques, support skill-building, and to strengthen skills to cope with internal and external stresses
• You will encourage consumer self-help programs and consumer advocacy organizations that promote recovery

Requirements

• High school diploma preferred OR two years paid or volunteer work experience with individuals with severe and persistent mental illnesses
• Successful completion of assigned training
• Ability to obtain Agency Affiliated Counselor registration within 90 days of hire
• Peer Counselor certification, or the ability to acquire that certification within one year of date of hire
• Current Washington state driver’s license
• Experience as a recipient of mental health services for severe and persistent mental health illness
• Proof of a safe driving record (which meets established MultiCare Standards) obtained by a motor vehicle report from the appropriate state

Pay and Benefit Expectations

We provide a comprehensive benefits package, including competitive salary, medical, dental and retirement benefits and paid time off.

As required by various pay transparency laws, we share a competitive range of compensation for candidates hired into each position.

The pay scale is $19.67 - $28.31 USD. However, pay is influenced by factors specific to applicants, including but not limited to : skill set, level of experience, and certification(s) and / or education.

If this position is associated with a union contract, pay will be reflective of the appropriate step on the pay scale to which the applicant’s years of experience align.

Associated benefit information can be viewed here.