Young Adult Peer Advocate, Safe Options Support (SOS) – South Team

Lived experience as a consumer of mental health, substance use, and/or homeless services is required

Position: Young Adult Peer Advocate

Program: Safe Options Support (SOS) – South Team

Function: Community Outreach on the streets and places where unhoused young adults frequent; coordinating participants needs before and after move from street to home, enhancing their daily living skills, accompaniment to appointments, and advocating on their behalf when faced with discrimination or healthcare inequities.

Reports to: Team Leader, Young Adult SOS Team – South

Location: Midtown, Lower Manhattan & Brooklyn

Schedule: Sundays (9am-5pm) & Mondays through Thursdays (1pm-9pm)

Job Responsibilities:

• Sustained outreach and engagement attempt for all individuals who are referred, even if they initially decline services
• Develop meaningful and lasting partnerships with key community stakeholders and providers including, Youth Adult Peer Programs, Safe Horizon, LGBTQIA+ community programs, local hospitals, NYPD, Department of Youth and Community Development, Shelter operators and housing providers, to identify those in most need of outreach and care.
• Conduct outreach to areas where unsheltered young adults are known to frequent
• Provide elements of Positive Youth Development to include an increased focus on youth involvement, skill building, leadership and community engagement.
• Use their shared personal lived experiences to promote client’s recovery, offering support, advocacy, and skill development opportunities.
• Assist young adults with developing a stigma-free approach to wellness, recovery and/or treatment
• Assist young adults to identify needs, strengths, challenges and goals to develop individualized care plans (ICP).
• Hold individual one-on-one peer support sessions focusing on engagement, bridging and transition support to help increase participant’s strengths to navigate systems
• Continuous assessment of the health and social needs of participants through SOS’s conversational and observational assessments and formalized risk assessment tools for those identified as being at high risk;
• Work in collaboration with the centralized SOS Hub to identify available housing and to support participants through the process. Tasks may include completing HRA 2010e, applying for housing, prepping for interviews, follow up with housing providers, and assistance with move-in (day of move) with obtaining housing supplies and learning the neighborhood;
• Participate in hospital discharge planning meetings to identify the best community resources for returning patients;
• Collect and report data, as required and work with team leader, data analyst and other SOS teams to use data to inform future care delivery;
• Foster relationships with community provides to ensure that recipients are connected with appropriate services as they transition back into the community;
• Escort to appointments when necessary, travel training to assist in community care, and to address barriers to care;
• Facilitate crisis interventions, referrals and hospitalizations as appropriate
• Attend and participate in team meetings and supervisory sessions;
• Perform other related duties as assigned.