High Intensity Peer Counselor (RISE Guide)

firsthand Health; Vancouver (WA); Remote; USD 36,000 - 41,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

Mental wellness

401(k) match

Parental leave

Vacation

Job summary

firsthand Health in Washington state is seeking a High Intensity Peer Counselor (RISE Guide) to support individuals with serious mental illness in the community. You will provide hybrid in-person and virtual care, coordinating discharge transitions, treatment plans, and medication adherence while building trust and empowerment.

The role emphasizes trauma-informed peer support, living experience, and mobility to cover 80%+ of time in the field; compensation includes benefits and a team-driven

Qualifications

• Lived experience with SMI and/or SUD and recovery.
• Two years demonstrated recovery time from a mental health and/or substance abuse disorder at the date of application.
• State Peer Recovery certification, or eligibility and willingness to obtain certification within six months of employment.
• Agreement to complete a paid training period prior to serving individuals and pass assessments to move forward.
• Interest in gaining a Community Health Worker (CHW) Credential after hire, or already holds certification.
• Training or experience in de-escalation techniques or willingness to be trained in these methods.
• Experience with direct in-person engagement for individuals with SMI and SUD.
• Expertise in recovery education and coaching.
• Understanding of whole health and trauma-informed approaches to peer support.
• Familiarity with local community resources, behavioral health systems, and the criminal justice system.
• Ability to thrive in a mobile environment 80%+ of time in the community.
• Valid driver's license in good standing and ability to operate a vehicle.

Responsibilities

• Provide intensive post-discharge management and transitions of care.
• Coordinate and support Substance Use Disorder treatment plans.
• Assist individuals in navigating medications and communication with prescribers.
• Develop safety and action plans for deterioration.
• Co-navigate systemic barriers to access care and enrollment.
• Resolve social challenges like housing, food, and transportation.
• Participate in daily huddles and regular IPRs.
• Potentially participate in after-hours rotation for crises.
• Maintain engagement with empathy and problem solving.
• Help prevent sentinel events to improve clinical outcomes.

Skills

Empathy

Communication

Recovery knowledge

Patience

Teamwork

Advocacy

Boundaries

Tech literacy

Feedback minded

Education

State Peer Recovery certification

CHW credential eligibility

Tools

Smartphone

Email

Messaging apps

Job description

High Intensity Peer Counselor (RISE Guide)

firsthand supports individuals living with SMI (serious mental illness). Our holistic approach includes a team of peer recovery specialists, benefits specialists and clinicians. Our teams focus on meeting each individual where they are and walking with them side by side as a trusted guide and partner on their journey to better health.

firsthand's team members use their lived experience to build trust with these individuals and support them in reconnecting to the healthcare they need, while minimizing inappropriate healthcare utilization. Together with our health plan partners, we are changing the way our society supports those most impacted by SMI.

We are cultivating a team of deeply passionate problem-solvers to tackle significant and complex healthcare challenges with us. This is more than a job—it's a calling. Every day, you will engage in work that resonates with purpose, gain wisdom from motivated colleagues, and thrive in an environment that celebrates continuous learning, creativity, and fun.

We named our company firsthand because we believe that lived, or “firsthand,” experience is invaluable for gaining trust and building meaningful relationships. Because of that, we have many Peer Recovery Specialists that play a critical role in both outreach and long term engagement, supporting individuals living with SMI to achieve and maintain both behavioral and physical wellness. Internally, we refer to this important role as a firsthand Guide (fG). Some of our individuals will benefit from a higher intensity level of care than others, and to support those individuals, we have another Peer Recovery Specialist role: our RISE Population Guides (RISE guides).

Our RISE Guides carry much of the same expertise as a Peer Recovery Specialist, however they will focus uniquely on supporting our individuals who need the highest level of care we provide at firsthand, often engaging and supporting them multiple times a week (or a day!). This is a role that will be performed in Community, working alongside our CORE firsthand guides, but serving a different panel of individuals than our core Community team.

As a RISE Guide, you will:

Support a small, high-touch panel of individuals, providing comprehensive hybrid support (in-person and virtual) tailored to complex acuity levels to:

• Provide intensive post-discharge management and transitions of care, ensuring stability post psychiatric hospitalization and supporting them, ideally with in-hospital engagement and discharge planning
• Coordinate and support their Substance Use Disorder treatment plan, if applicable
• Support individuals in navigating their relationship with medications, including identifying and addressing barriers to adherence and facilitating communication with their prescribing team
• Develop a deep understanding of the individual’s supports and triggers for deterioration, and be able to quickly develop safety & action planning to support them
• Co-navigate systemic barriers alongside individuals to ensure they are able to access care, including appointments, transportation, enrollment into care services, and more
• Actively problem solve and own to resolve social challenges, such as housing, food, transportation
• Participate in daily huddles and regular IPRs to ensure a coordinated approach for RISE individuals
• Potentially participate in (Post-Pilot) after-hours rotation to support individuals experiencing a crisis or urgent need outside of standard business hours.
• Maintain engagement and build a trusting relationship with their individual, supporting them with empathy and assistance with problem solving
• Support our individual, and our broader RISE care team, with ensuring our individuals avoid any sentinel, traumatic events – leading to better clinical outcomes and quality of life

RISE guides should have:

• Empathy, compassion, and approachability
• Excellent listening, communication, and interpersonal skills
• Personal knowledge of recovery and/or behavioral health
• Patience, persistence and a desire to help individuals experiencing SMI and/or SUD on their wellness journey
• Comfort working collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams, including clinicians
• Comfort or willingness to be an advocate for individuals in acute healthcare settings such as ERs and hospitals.
• Strong personal boundaries and the ability to navigate high-stress situations while maintaining a calm, grounded presence
• Demonstrated mastery with technical tools like smart phones, email, messaging services, and apps
• Openness to receiving feedback and a commitment to professional growth

The required experience you bring to this role includes:

• Lived experience with SMI and/or SUD and recovery
• Two (2) years demonstrated recovery time from a mental health and/or substance abuse disorder at the date of application
• State Peer Recovery certification, or eligibility and willingness to obtain certification within six (6) months of employment
• Agreement to complete a paid training period prior to serving individuals and pass assessments to move forward.
• Interest in gaining a Community Health Worker (CHW) Credential after hire, or already holds certification
• Training or experience in de-escalation techniques (e.g., CPI, Mental Health First Aid) or a willingness to be trained in these methods
• Experience with direct in-person engagement for individuals with SMI and SUD
• Expertise in recovery education and coaching
• Understanding of whole health and trauma-informed approaches to peer support
• Familiarity with local community resources, behavioral health systems, and the criminal justice system (e.g., mental health and drug courts)
• Ability to thrive in a mobile environment, spending 80%+ of your time in the community (homes, hospitals, streets) rather than an office
• Eagerness to expand knowledge about a broad range of health conditions
• Valid driver's license in good standing, with the ability to operate a vehicle (company vehicle may be provided) and eligibility to drive under the company's insurance policy

Hourly Pay Rate:

$28 - $28 USD

We firmly believe that great candidates for this role may not meet 100% of the criteria listed in this posting. We encourage you to apply anyway - we look forward to begin getting to know you.

Benefits
Our full-time compensation package includes a base salary, equity, and performance bonus potential, supported by comprehensive health, dental, vision, and mental wellness coverage. We offer a 401(k) with company match and 16 weeks of paid parental leave for both parents. In your first year, you will accrue 120 hours of vacation annually (4.62 hours per pay period), which steps up to 160 hours annually (6.15 hours per pay period) after one year—all within a welcoming, inclusive culture.

Employment with firsthand is contingent upon attesting to medical clearance requirements, which include, but may not be limited to: evidence of vaccination for/immunity to COVID-19, Hepatitis B, Influenza, MMR, Chickenpox, Tetanus and Diphtheria. All employees of firsthand are required to receive these vaccinations on a cadence/frequency as advised by the CDC, whereas not otherwise prohibited by state law.

Unfortunately, we are not able to offer sponsorship at this time.

firsthand Health will only contact candidates from email addresses ending in @ foremostcares.com . Any communication from another domain claiming to represent firsthand is fraudulent. We will never ask for payment or sensitive financial information during the hiring process. If you receive suspicious outreach, please do not respond.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in firsthand Health’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

We use Greenhouse’s AI-powered Talent Matching tool to compare your application against our job requirements.