Abode·Santa Clara, California
Provide outreach, engagement, and case management services to homeless adults with serious mental health or substance use disorders. Assist participants in accessing community treatment, public benefits, and navigating the criminal justice system.
Abode, one of the largest and effective nonprofits working to end homelessness in the Bay Area, is seeking a Peer Specialist for our Calabazas program in Santa Clara, CA.
The Peer Specialist provides outreach, case management, or rehabilitative services. This position, along with team members will provide outreach, engage, house, and wrap around clinical services to participants. These participants will be identified through county data and other assessment processes as being the most frequent users of emergency services, criminal justice, and other homeless/county services in the County. Program participants will have Serious Mental Health Disorders, Substance Use Disorders, and/or Chronic Health Conditions.
You will be surrounded by some of the most talented, supportive, smart, and kind leaders and teams - people you can be proud to work with Abode Services regularly recognizes employees’ efforts, seeks employees’ input, and cares for employees as people with lives outside of work. We believe that we make better decisions and provide quality services when our workforce reflects the diversity of the communities in which we operate. People of color make up nearly 70% of our workforce and we strive to recruit and retain employees from all backgrounds.
Provide outreach and engagement to homeless adults to locate referred individuals. Locations include but are not limited to encampments, parks, shelters, treatment facilities, jail, court, etc.
Help re-engage participants enrolled in the program who have lost contact with the team.
Assist in interviewing and completing initial intakes with clients, gathering, and assembling related information, and maintaining appropriate records and files. Maintain thorough and concise case notes.
Assist in linking participants with community treatment services for mental health, substance recovery, physical health care, financial assistance, educational and employment services, housing, advocacy, socialization activities, and other services.
Assist participants with establishing goals and strategies for increasing self-sufficiency. Assist participants with accessing public benefits (i.e., General Assistance, Food Stamps, and SSI).
Support participants as they navigate the criminal justice and court systems. Advocate for participants by interacting with judges, court mental health staff, public defenders, etc.
Help participants develop a Wellness Recovery Action Plan.
Provide support, role modeling, and coaching to participants in the program.
Attend clinical, administrative, and case conferencing meetings as dictated by the program supervisor.
Enter all data on time and correctly to support program evaluation and outcomes tracking.
Ensure proper and timely documentation of services including written case notes using the BIRP formats and billing services to Medi-Cal.
Assist the Program Manager, Clinical Supervisor, and other staff as needed.
Other duties as assigned.
Excellent verbal & written communication, organizational, and time management skills.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with meticulous attention to detail.
Ability to work well independently and collaboratively with teams.
Possess an understanding of and practice cultural sensitivity.
Experience in building rapport and engaging in the most difficult to serve participants.
Experience and ability to build supportive and respectful working relationships with individuals with disabilities and/or are experiencing homelessness that instills hope and promotes self-determination using a strengths-based approach.
Sensitivity to and understanding of the special needs of the homeless.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office programs, systems, and platforms.
Ability to learn and use required mobile devices and business-related applications.
High degree of emotional intelligence, cultural humility, with a proven track record to build and maintain effective relationships with a wide variety of internal and external contacts.
This description is to be used as a guide only. It does not constitute a contract, commitment or promise of any kind. Abode Services reserves the right to change, add, delete, upgrade, or downgrade the position as dictated by business necessity at any time with or without notice.
Notice: Abode Services is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Drug Free Workplace
Requires a high school diploma and personal lived experience with recovery from addiction, homelessness, or mental health challenges. Must have six months of field experience and a valid California Driver's License with a clean DMV record.
Market context
In California, Peer Specialist roles are often tied to behavioral health, recovery, and homeless services programs, where employers look for candidates who can combine lived experience with practical field skills. These positions can be competitive because the required mix of a high school diploma, personal recovery experience, a valid California driver’s license, clean DMV record, and six months of homeless-services experience narrows the candidate pool. Review the AI-summarized requirements and benefits here to save research time, then confirm your experience aligns with the outreach and documentation duties before applying.
