Across the US, as the Peer Movement rapidly expands and as the number of Peer Specialists in our country increase, there has been a shared concern (in this country and abroad) for the need for standards that will support the movement as it increasingly becomes "mainstream". There is also the need for these standards to not only ensure that peer-led interventions can be measured but that the very integrity of the role can be upheld and sustained.
NC is in the process of looking at the quality standards that should exist for Peer Specialist across the state. The 5th Annual Recovery Conference underscored the importance of standardization and the development of quality standards to apply to all Peer Support Specialists and trainers across the state.
These topics were discussed on November 7th 2013, SAMHSA's Recovery to Practice Resources Center held an important webinar entitled "Peer Practice and Context: Developing Quality Standards".
The contributors to the webinar were:
Steven Fry, M.S. who is Consumer Affairs Specialist, Center for Mental Health Services at SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) addresses topics in this webinar such as:
- What is a peer?
- What can peers offer?
- In what different roles do peers serve?
- What effects are peers having within our culture?
- What are the workforce challenges for peers?
- How are the role of peers being specialized?...or potentially diminished?
Tom Hill, M.S.W. who is Director of Programs, Faces & Voices of Recovery shared important topics with the webinar such as:
- What are the dynamic forces at work within the peer movement?
- How do you define recovery? What should those recovery outcomes be?
- How organizations should value peers and experiential knowledge?
- How to match lived experiences within peer specialization?
- Why are peer practice guidelines important? What should they be?
- What methods should be used to craft these guidelines? How to test them?
Chacku Mathai, C.P.R.P. who is the Associate Executive Director, New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, Inc. discusses important ideas such as:
- How are these dynamic forces affecting the peer workforce?
- How to develop a broader understanding of lived experience?
- What peer-specific jobs will we see within the peer workforce?
- What are the challenges between the peer and non-peer workforce?
- How to orient the peer workforce to non-peer cultures?
- What is the balance between "love and outrage" within peer advocacy?
- How to create a more inclusive and recovery-oriented workforce culture?
The webinar was moderated by Larry Davidson, Ph.D. Project Director, Recovery to Practice Development Services Group, Inc.
Below you will find the the Webinar Recording and the Powerpoint presentation that accompanied the webinar that can be downloaded:
These topics are so important. Think...if we do not set such guidelines in place we are left with two haunting questions...
- What will the future of peer supports become?
- And if it is not sustained...What will it then be replaced with?
May we never go back...Let us move forward and adopt standards to ensure a bright and sustainable future for Peer Support Specialists in NC and beyond.
