Bilingual Peer Counselor – Re-entry Treatment Team

La Familia; California; On-site; USD 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Job summary

La Familia is seeking a Peer Counselor in California to engage clients and provide intensive case management, housing and health resource linkage, and advocacy through the reentry process.

You will work under SEIU 1021 terms, participate in weekly meetings, document progress, and support diverse participants with culturally competent care while using Motivational Interviewing techniques.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• Bilingual English/Spanish required.
• Peer Support Specialist Certification preferred.
• Valid CA driver's license required.
• Experience in non-profit/community organizations preferred.
• Experience with diverse populations and confidentiality.

Responsibilities

• Provide outreach, engagement, linkage, and follow-up services to participants.
• Serve as role model and coach to inspire, advocate for participants and their families.
• Support participants as they navigate the criminal justice and court systems.
• Provide culturally competent supports and connect to community resources.
• Maintain documentation and report progress to supervisors.
• Attend trainings and participate in team meetings.

Skills

Bilingual English/Spanish

Driver's license

Lived experience

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Peer Support Specialist Certification

Tools

MS Office

Google Workspace

Job description

Education LevelHigh School## DescriptionExcept in the case of an undue hardship, La Familia provides reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities when the accommodations are necessary to enable the persons to perform the essential functions of the job. The Agency also provides reasonable accommodations when necessary based on religious needs. Individuals requiring workplace accommodations must discuss their needs with La Familia Human Resources. Individuals seeking accommodations for disabilities are typically required to provide medical documentation supporting the existence of a disability, the need for the accommodation, and what workplace modifications will enable the employee to perform the essential functions of the job.POSITION OVERVIEW:Peer counselors have a unique ability to relate to and motivate clients through the shared reentry experience, providing intensive case management, accompanying clients to appointments, and ensuring they receive necessary services. They will also refer and link participants to housing and health related resources in the community. This role will uphold and champion the agency’s mission, vision, and values and contribute to a collaborative and inclusive work culture.This position is covered under the SEIU 1021 Collective Bargaining Agreement. In addition to the established base pay, members will receive negotiated annual increases as follows:* January 2027: 3% base pay increaseFuture increases will be subject to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.Essential Job Functions and Responsibilities: * Provide outreach, engagement, linkage, and follow-up services to participants* Serve as role model and coach to inspire, engage, and advocate for participants and their family member/caregivers’ rights* Support and advocate for participants as they navigate the criminal justice and court systems* Provide culturally competent supports to participants and their family members/caregivers* Utilize Motivational Interviewing and other evidence-based interventions* Accompany participants to appointments and other services* Participate in weekly case management and peer review meetings, and monthly training sessions* Provide linkage and warm hand offs to other community-based providers* Provide quality documentation, e.g. progress notes, and report client progress to supervisors* Utilize a personal work computer to send and receive work-related electronic mail, and access and maintain electronic records and files* Provide intensive care coordination/case management, housing support, connection to community resources, employment support, referrals for psychiatric treatment, and linkage to mental health, substance abuse, legal, and life skills services* Effective team collaboration in order to meet the needs of our clientsOther * Attend trainings and participate in events relevant to key responsibilities* Track and regularly report on key metrics for responsible function areas* Leads and collaborate on special projects related to agency objectives as appropriate* High school diploma required and or equivalent* Bilingual proficiency in both English and **Spanish required*** Peer Support Specialist Certification preferred.* Formerly incarcerated/History of involvement with the criminal justice system* Lived experience with mental illness, homelessness, and/or substance use recovery* Experience working with adults of diverse cultural backgrounds* Experience in non-profit and community-based organizations preferred.* Demonstrates and models excellent “customer service” orientation and ability to work with diverse populations.* Exercises extreme discretion with the ability to hold, balance, and transmit public and confidential information needed by various parties.* Proficient in MS Office and Google Workspace products.* Valid CA Driver’s license required. + **Auto insurance:** If your vehicle is used for business-related purposes, it is recommended thatyou inform your auto insurance carrier.* Demonstrates cultural awareness and provides respectful, client-centered care.* Maintains knowledge of community resources for client referrals* Attend work regularly, adhering to policies on absences and tardiness.* Understands and applies legal requirements, including confidentiality and risk management.* Ability to occasionally or frequently stand, walk, sit, and reach with hands and arms above the shoulders* While performing the duties of this job, the employee is routinely required to sit, walk, talk, and hear, use hands to keyboard, fingers, handle, and feel, stoop, kneel, crouch, twist, crawl, reach, and stretch.* The employee is occasionally required to move around the office* Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus* May require travel, dependent on agency needs* Can work under deadlines* Performing general physical activities such as picking up, moving, and using objects, tools, or controls* The noise level in the work environment is usually low to moderate.* Ability to safely operate a motor vehicle* Ability to push, pull, and lift up to 50 pounds frequently.* Ability to stand and move from one location to another daily.* Ability to sit for prolonged periods of time* Ability to visually focus on near and far items, and to be able to switch between them.* Ability to reliably report to work on time and perform the position's required tasks as scheduled* Ability to grasp and carry items* Ability to hear and effectively communicate with co-workers, clients, and the public* Ability to identify potential issues within the workplace, determine an appropriate means of avoiding and/or resolving the issues, work with others to address the issues, and carry out organized strategies for resolving and preventing similar issues in the future* Ability to process information and data for use within the organization- Excellent Health benefits package for you and your family, including: * Medical, dental, and vision benefits with 95% employee and 80% dependent employer premium contributions, and employer-paid life insurance.