Peer Care Coordinator - East (Sterling, CO)

Position Title: Peer Care Coordinator

Position Status: Full Time, 40 hours per Week

FLSA Status:  Hourly / Non-Exempt 

Peer Care Coordinators are part of our Addiction Response Team and utilize their lived experience to walk side by side with individuals seeking recovery from Substance Use.  Peer Care Coordinators will support individuals in achieving their recovery goals by collaborating with Advocates for Recovery, local service providers, and community agencies, offering education, outreach, and connections to treatment and other recovery resources. We believe that the ability for a Peer Care Coordinator to use their lived experience to assist others with their recovery plan to be crucial to the success of our work.  Peer Care Coordinators report directly to the Addition Response Team Program Manager and indirectly to the Addition Response Team Lead.

Knowledge / Skills / Abilities 

• Minimum 2 years in active personal recovery
• Ability to effectively engage with different populations including People of Color, LGBTQIA+, Disability, Veteran, Low/No Income and/or experiencing homelessness, People with criminal justice involvement, and people who use drugs, people with mental health conditions, people with complex medical conditions and more.
• Skills to communicate and interact appropriately and respectfully across multi-cultural differences.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills (both over the phone and in person)
• Strong decision making, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities.
• Experience with persons who have a substance use disorder and knowledge of medication assisted treatment.  
• Experience partnering with local and regional health and human services resources.
• Ability to recognize different pathways to recovery and showing empathy toward others with substance use disorders and their journey.
• Ability to work independently and in a busy office environment that may contain interruptions to work due to walk-ins, member needs, supervisor requests, phone conversations, etc.
• Able to manage stressful situations while remaining calm and non-reactive (i.e. working with members who may have severe and persistent mental health issues or may be under the influence of a substance).
• Ability to adjust priorities quickly as circumstances and needs dictate for member success
• Ability to effectively engage and build rapport in a variety of medical, behavioral health, justice involved, substance use, and homeless situations.
• Strict Confidentiality required.
• Basic Computer Skills preferred for navigation through multiple Electronic Medical Record Systems and data collection tools as determined by organizational needs.
• Reliable transportation
• Valid Driver License

Education or Formal Training

• HS Graduate or GED required
• Certified Peer and Family Specialist (CPFS) preferred
• Bi-lingual preferred                                                                                                                                                          

 Working Environment Physical Activities

●        Primary Job Location is Sterling with up to 80% travel to other parts of the region

●        Contact with the public by phone and in person.

●        Typically Monday through Friday 8am-5pm

●        Schedule may include occasional nights and weekends for events.

●        Embedded locations may deviate from the typical schedule.

●        Sitting

●        Standing

●        Walking

●        Climbing up and down stairs

●        Bending and reaching

●        Annual Influenza vaccination required.

●        Lifting up to 30 pounds

Job Responsibilities:

●     As member of the Northern Colorado Health Alliance and the Addiction Response Team, participate in street outreach, community events, and in community workgroup meetings.

○     Participate in family support programs.

○     May facilitate recovery support groups.

○     Help plan and implement community events that will reduce stigma surrounding substance use disorders.  

○     Help connect community members to supportive services.

○     Responsibilities include presenting and sharing at meetings and events

○     Engagement, and outreach to persons in the community

●     Connect people currently experiencing substance use disorder to the CO-SLAW network and other relative supportive/harm reduction measures.

●     Course completion and certification as a Peer Recovery Coach.

●     Complete a variety of assessment tools, including the GPRA survey, with required follow-ups per program goals.

●     Support persons enrolled in MAT to continue engagement with both medical and behavioral health treatment plans.

●     Participate in telephone contacts, office/hospital visits, community visits, and other means of connecting with members to reach identified goals.

●     Attend member appointments with providers and community resources as needed.

●     Assist members in scheduling appointments, follow up care, referrals, medication refills, etc. to coordinate for the members goals.

●     Enter all documentation, contacts, and assessments into required data bases within 2 business days as required.

●     Regular Case Reviews with a member of the Addiction Response Team Leadership.

●     Participate in department meetings.

●     Transport members across the region as needed in an NCHA company vehicle.

●     Will work independently and within a team, in a busy office environment that may contain interruptions to work due to walk-ins, member needs, supervisor requests, phone conversations, etc.

●     Maintain personal self-care and communicate own needs to leadership.

Other Duties as Assigned: 

●        Provide assistance as designated by the ART leadership to support the overall goals of NCHA.

●        Other duties as needed to meet demands of the organization, which may include flexing or changing job locations.

●        Provide input into development of procedures and workflows, and be accountable for adhering to them.

●        Support of the mission and vision of NCHA

●        Compliance with NCHA programs overall

●        Meeting and training attendance.

●        Participation in ongoing performance improvement activities.

About NCHA:

The North Colorado Health Alliance was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 2002. The Alliance, based in the town of Evans in Colorado’s Weld County, is a creative and strategic collaboration of partner organizations that are dedicated to cultivating the health of the communities they serve.

At the Alliance, we recognize that health does not begin or end with medical, dental, and behavioral health services. Health also depends on features of the built environment and on a variety of social determinants that make it harder for many to resist the chronic illnesses of our times. Thinking globally, the Alliance acts locally and creatively to convene, integrate, and support community partners in our common effort to make northeastern Colorado the healthiest region in the healthiest state.