Hybrid Peer Support Specialist Youth SMART bei The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD

The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD (“The HARRIS CENTER”) is looking for a  Peer Support Specialist Youth to join our team. The Youth Peer Support Specialist (YPSS) provides youth-driven services for young people, increases youth engagement, and expands capacity for youth voice across the agency and community. This position draws on their own lived experience navigating behavioral health systems to inspire hope and model relationships built on respect, trust, and validation. By sharing their own lived experience, the Youth Peer Support Specialist helps youth to enhance wellness, create strategies for self-empowerment, and take concrete steps towards building fulfilling, self-determined lives for themselves. The position serves as an ally and advocate for young people and promotes connection, builds rapport, and inspires hope. The responsibilities of this position may frequently require travel across the community and work inside the family home, schools, and other community settings.

Your role in action:

• Provides support to youth who choose to engage with the youth peer support specialist.
• Develops authentic, meaningful relationships with individuals and families through empathy, sharing experiences, listening, and collaborating with genuine curiosity and interest.
• Identify and actively share information about community resources that are available to youth.
• Assist and support youth to identify and build community and natural supports.
• Promote self-advocacy by assisting youth in articulating their personal goals and desires.
• Support the team and agency in collaborating with and engaging youth.
• Maintain open and frequent communication with the team, including reporting safety and other concerns to the team.
• Participate in regularly scheduled supervision.
• Collaborate with the team to ensure that services and agency culture are youth-driven, youth-friendly, trauma-informed, and responsive to the needs of the youth who are served.
• Educate the youth and family members so they may understand and recognize mental health symptoms, different treatment options and assist with referring to community resources.
• Completes electronic documentation each workday which becomes part of the medical record for the Agency.
• Follows the key principles of a trauma informed approach when interacting with the community and colleagues.
• Performs related work as assigned and adapts to changing work requirements.
• Demonstrates ethical conduct in all professional activities.
• Complies with Agency policies and procedures.
• Provide assistance to the Agency and staff as requested and required

What qualifications you will need:

Education:

• High School Diploma or general education degree (GED).
• If not certified as a Peer Specialist, certification must be obtained within 90 days of employment

 Experience:

• Must self-identify as a user of Mental Health Services with no crisis services utilized within a year, and no hospitalization within a year. May consider one stay within a year if it was a short duration.
• Must have at least a 12 month treatment history of one of the severe and persistent mental illnesses.
• Background check is required.
• Preferred experience effectively collaborating and advocating alongside youth. 

Other Key Requirements:

• Valid Texas Driver’s License required.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Have personal lived experience navigating behavioral health systems and juvenile justice systems. Demonstrate strong interpersonal communications skills and the ability to empathize, with, relate to and effectively collaborate with youth and team members. Demonstrate a strong understanding of boundaries and principles of self-care. Have the willingness to disclose their lived experience, where appropriate, for the purpose of empowerment. Basic understanding of mental illness, common signs, symptoms, and the ability to identify difficulties coping in community settings. Bi-lingual is a strong plus. Group affiliations a strong plus; i.e., NAMI, DBSA, AA, NA, etc.
• Must have basic understanding of mental illness and able to identify common signs and symptoms. Must have strong communication skills, listening and interpersonal skills. Written documentation must be clear, concise, and well-constructed. Must be able to work respectfully and maintain professional boundaries with other disciplines. Must have effective time management and organizational skills. Must be able to enter required documentation into a database and online medical record. Must be able to use basic word processing and data spreadsheets. Must have good written and spoken communication skills in English

What we have to offer:

The Harris Center not only offers a competitive salary but also a suite of excellent benefits designed to enrich your life both professionally and personally. Imagine a future with a robust retirement plan complemented by our generous company matching – a testament to our investment in your long-term financial well-being. Experience the unique advantage of our prior service credit, accelerating your journey towards a more substantial Paid Time Off accrual, empowering you to enjoy well-deserved breaks.

Enjoy Cell Phone Discounts, exclusive entertainment deals through Tickets at Work, and a free

Headspace subscription for mental wellness. Additionally, our Employee Assistance Program supports your overall well-being.

Take advantage of significant financial relief through student loan forgiveness as a valued member of The Harris Center team. As a qualifying entity, our employees are eligible for various student loan forgiveness programs, designed to alleviate the financial burdens associated with higher education.

 What else you should know:

• This posting is associated with position #47020,1402.
• The Harris Center will leverage existing collaborations with local Independent School Districts (ISD) in the Precinct 2 area of Houston to organize five (5) colocation teams, addressing the mental and behavioral health needs of students within their academic environment, including Galena Park, Spring Branch, Pasadena, Alief, Goose creek, Aldine, and HISD (all districts with whom The Harris Center has a current memorandum of understanding). The Harris Center will work with the local precinct to identify specific campuses that need student mental health care. In addition to addressing acute needs, students and families will be referred for long-term support within our community-based clinics, including access to integrated health (physical/primary care). The Harris Center will have a goal of 150 students served in the Project. The BCBA position will assist with clinical support for this project

About us:

The HARRIS CENTER is the state-designated Local Mental Health Authority and Local Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD) Authority serving Harris County, Texas.  As the largest behavioral and developmental disability care center in Texas, The Harris Center provided care to over 96,000 people in fiscal year 2023! 

As part of its mission to transform the lives of people with behavioral health and IDD needs in the third largest county in the United States, The HARRIS CENTER provides a full continuum of services at 86 different sites across Harris County. In addition, services are provided in more than 40 different languages as well as sign language to better serve what is one of the largest communities in the nation.

By utilizing the unique expertise of its more than 2,500 employees, The Harris Center is committed to meeting the behavioral health and IDD needs of Harris County residents and giving them hope to live to their fullest potential.