Mental Health America of NKY and Southwest Ohio Inc.
Ohio START Family Peer Mentor
Wilmington, OH - Full Time
An Ohio START Family Peer Mentor provides peer support to help families navigate through the child welfare and other systems while also providing hope and motivation to promote healing to keep children safe and families together. An Ohio START Family Peer Mentor serves families referred by the PCSA due to child maltreatment with substance abuse being the primary risk factor. The Ohio START Family Peer Mentor serves as a member of the local START team along with the child welfare caseworker, child welfare supervisor, and behavioral health service provider. The goal of the entire team is to keep children safe and families together. The Ohio START Family Peer Mentor will have a caseload of 10-12 families.
The Ohio START Family Peer Mentor’s roles and responsibilities include: • Participating as an active member of the Ohio START team; • Working jointly with the Ohio START case worker and behavioral health provider to ensure seamless and efficient delivery of intensive wrap-around services to the START families on his or her caseload to assist with the safety of the child(ren); • Participating in initial meetings, weekly status meetings and Family Team Meetings to review families’ progress and child safety in their respective cases. • Providing continual exploration of family’s needs to empower the family to take ownership over their long-term successes and the safety of the child(ren); • Supporting the parent(s) in achieving personal independence; • Connecting START families to community resources; • Teaching families skills to effectively navigate to the child welfare system; • Assisting families with identifying and accessing natural support systems in the community; • Promoting coordination and linkage among providers within local community; • Coordinating or providing assistance in crisis interventions and stabilization of families; • Assisting families to develop of empowerment skills through promoting self-advocacy; • Identify barriers (internal and external) to full participation in community resources and developing strategies to overcome those barriers; • Providing input on court forms as needed; and • Providing input on development of the case plan and child safety. The START Family Peer Mentor must: • Demonstrate long term recovery from a SUD; • Have earned a minimum education level of GED; • Demonstrate no ongoing criminal activity; • Have lived experience with the child welfare system either as a parent or child; and • Maintain a current driver’s license. The START Family Peer Mentor should have knowledge or be able to attain knowledge of: • Alcohol and drugs (pharmacology) • Behaviors associated with addiction • Court processes • Diversity • Ethics • Family dynamics • Family Team Meetings • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) • Human behavior • Local resources and services • Maintain confidentiality • Medically Assisted Treatment (MAT) • Pathology of addiction • Process of recovery •