Position Summary

The Peer Parent Support Specialist serves as a member of the care team responsible for promoting youth and family engagement in the Wraparound process through creative outreach methods and the use of their personal lived experience to connect with, validate, and provide support to youth and family participants. The Peer Parent Support Specialist inspires hope for youth and family participants to reach their goals and is a primary agent for the engagement of youth and families in the program. Through one-on-one support and mentorship, the Peer Parent Support Specialist shares their expertise in navigating systems and programs, working to address barriers, promote youth and parent/caregiver voice, build resilience, and develop skills that promote recovery and success.

Essential Functions

Model and act in accordance with Everstand’s core values: safety, empathy, relationships, and impact.
Honor differences, acknowledge uniqueness, and amplify all voices. Model the use of inclusive language.
Demonstrate and practice Everstand’s leadership mindset, “Choose kindness”. Solve problems and learn together. Make it happen.”
Participate as an active and contributing member of the Wraparound care team, implementing support in a manner that aligns with Wraparound principles, promotes resiliency, and is individualized, strength-based, culturally competent and family-centered.
Communicate with youth and family participants as per standards established with the Wraparound plan, at minimum weekly, maintaining empathy, support, respect and enthusiasm throughout communication efforts.
Assist youth and family participants in developing self-advocacy and negotiating skills.
Serve as a role model to youth and family participants in communication, health and wellness, conflict resolution, problem solving and symptom management skills.
Relate lived experience and personal expertise utilizing an empathic and trauma informed approach to assist in establishing credibility and building trust with youth and their families while maintaining the ability to reflect and examine personal motivations, judgements and feelings that may be activated by sharing lived experiences.
Partner with the Wraparound care team, the youth and their family to identify the youth’s strengths, needs, and goals.
Support youth in goal setting, developing specific, practical steps to reach their goals and goal achievement both personally and within the context of the family and care team.
Support youth and family in their decision making by cultivating their ability to make informed, independent choices.
Collaborate with the Wraparound care team in partnering with youth and family to support engagement in services, promote youth voice and choice and identify natural supports and resources that will help youth achieve progress towards goal attainment.
Facilitate individual and group meetings with youth and family participants that promote sharing, learning and growth. These meetings are designed to meet the needs of the youth in a particular context – thus they may be manual led, unstructured topical groups, skill-based groups, or social events.
Assist Wraparound care team in developing language that accurately reflects the preferences of youth participants.
Create an atmosphere that encourages youth voice and choice, while ensuring the verbal communication and advocacy efforts are respectful at all times.
Effectively share information about services, resources, and youth participant role and responsibilities to youth, families and other identified supports.
Teach and role model communication and self-advocacy skills in a variety of settings (e.g., with informal social network, providers, organizations, courts, etc.).
Support the provision of services in the family home, school as well as other community-based locations. Services shall be scheduled in a manner flexible to meet the youth and family needs.
Maintain effective working relationships with Wraparound care team members and external stakeholders such as health professionals, schools, community partners, and other human service agencies.