Youth Peer Support Specialist

Role Overview

• Provide individualized peer support aligned with each student’s needs, fostering choice, confidence, and independence.
• Facilitate small group sessions to teach recovery, resiliency, and life skills.
• Build rapport with students by modeling recovery and appropriately sharing lived experiences.
• Support youth involved with schools, DHS, the justice system, and family services in understanding and applying recovery principles to achieve life goals.
• Identify and connect youth to community resources, skill-building opportunities, and supportive services.
• Serve as an accessible resource during scheduled appointments and drop-in hours.
• Attend youth case meetings and other relevant meetings as needed.
• Maintain accurate and timely documentation.
• Participate in the on-call rotation to provide crisis line coverage during scheduled times.
• Deliver crisis prevention, intervention, and post-stabilization support.
• Conduct screening, triage, safety planning, and referrals to appropriate levels of care.
• Coordinate with mental health professionals, hospitals, shelters, substance use treatment providers, law enforcement, schools, and families as needed.
• Support youth and families transitioning back into the community following hospitalization or crisis stabilization.
• Travel within the service area as required to respond to crises and provide support in community-based settings.
• Represent the organization at school and community events as needed.
• Perform additional duties to support organizational goals as assigned.

Requirements

• Minimum of an Associate’s Degree or equivalent relevant experience.
• Nebraska Certified Peer Support Specialist (CPSS) certification, or ability to obtain within the required timeframe.
• Completion of required crisis response and state/agency mental health trainings.

Benefits

• N/A