SAMHSA recently solicited feedback on its draft National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification to meet President Biden’s goal of a national certification program for mental health peer workers and is meant to complement existing state certification programs.

Vibrant Emotional Health’s (Vibrant) peer support programs, like Another Way and Family & Youth Peer Support Services, operate on the principle that people recovering from severe mental health challenges benefit from the support of others who have had similar experiences. Additionally, NYC Well’s peer program connects callers, chatters, and texters, 365/24/7, with a trained peer specialist who will support them during a crisis and listen when they need to talk with someone.

Based on feedback from peer support leadership, Vibrant’s Public Policy Department’s peer certification recommendations focused on the following:

• Highlighting lived experience and the importance of peer workers being reflective of the community in which they serve.
• Providing a template for states or programs to review the various competencies of workers to improve state-to-state reciprocity.
• Integrating a DEIA focus throughout the peer certification process, reducing unnecessary barriers, and promoting the hiring of diverse or historically underserved populations, strengthening the overall peer workforce.