Mobile Peer Provider (Project Respond/DHS)

Mobile Peer Provider (Project Respond)

Job Overview

Location/Schedule: This position is based out of the Kerns Building located in NE Portland, OR. The schedule for this position Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Position: Mobile Peer Provider

Program: Project Respond/DHS

Cascadia Mission and Vision:

Mission: Cascadia Health delivers whole health care – integrated mental health and addiction services, primary care, and housing – to promote hope and support the well-being of the communities we serve.

Vision: We envision a community where everyone benefits from whole health care, experiences well-being, and has a self-directed, connected life.
 

Position Description: The Mobile Peer Provider (Project Respond/DHS) provides crisis intervention as part of an interdisciplinary team to adults and children accessing Department of Human Services (DHS) who are experiencing behavioral health crisis as well as staff who may be negatively impacted by DHS client behavior. The Peer Provider uses their training and experience to provide engagement, de-escalation, and advocacy to support individuals in regaining stability in the community. This position is part of a team and approaches work with people from a trauma-informed, strength-based, perspective and works in concert with programs in Multnomah County’s Acute Care Continuum. 

The Peer Provider models wellness and recovery while offering acceptance, hope, options, opportunities, problem solving, non-directive and supportive peer services based on respect and mutuality through similar or shared lived experiences to individuals they are responding to.  The employee works collaboratively with behavioral health and physical health care providers, police agencies, emergency departments, school personnel, and other social service agencies to assure the best possible treatment for clients, while supporting a Trauma Informed Care environment. 

 

This position is community-based and mobile. It will be located at a designated DHS (Department of Human Services) office (homebase). From there, teams of two will be dispatched to additional locations needing crisis support.  

Essential Duties 

This position description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of responsibilities, skills, or working conditions associated with the position.  Management reserves the right to modify, add or remove duties as necessary.   

• Provide mobile crisis response, as part of a 2-person team, to individuals experiencing behavioral health crises at one of the DHS locations within Multnomah County.   

• Openly identify as an individual who has lived experience of receiving mental health services. 

• Provide support through the recovery process for individuals being served by the DHS Team. 

• Reflect positive peer values that include non-hierarchy and mutuality. 

• Act as a positive role model for individuals being served, demonstrating a recovery and healthful lifestyle orientation. 

• Assist and support in connecting to and developing the skills necessary to access and utilize community resources, and other life skills. 

• Provide culturally responsive services, particularly for African American, Latino and Native American participants (that are over-represented among homeless participants). 

• Model and encourage participation in community inclusion activities. 

• Coordinate services provided with other service providers including but not limited to medical providers, mental health providers, and Aging and Disability Services. 

• Assess for personal safety in the environment and request additional support as appropriate. 

• In certain situations, collaborate with law enforcement agencies to determine risk of intervention and develop plans for approach of clients in crises. 

• Provide information and facilitate linkage to mental health treatment and other social services. 

• Consult with teammates, supervisors, program managers, and program medical directors as appropriate. 

• Communicate with Project Respond teammates via Microsoft Teams to collaborate