Where Peer Workers Are Employed [2.2.2.I.f.3]

Forms of peer support can include naturally-occurring peer support groups, peer-run services, or employment of people using services within clinical or rehabilitative settings. Peers are involved in developing learning networks, educating their peers about the Affordable Care Act, and implementing workforce development activities. Peer staff work in:

• faith and community-based organizations;
• recovery community centers;
• emergency departments;
• recovery homes and sober housing;
• addiction and mental health services agencies; 
• criminal justice organizations, including jails, prisons, probation and parole programs, and drug courts;
• veteran programs; and
• health and social service centers, such as HIV/AIDS and children, youth and family services.

Some specific examples of peer support programs include:

• New York’s NYAPRS Peer Health Coaching Initiative where peer workers are health coaches;
• Michigan’s program, which enables Certified Peer Specialists to work at Federally Qualified Health Centers; and
• the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) peer support programs. The VA has emerged as a leader in the development of a peer support workforce. As the single largest employer of peer supporters, the VA has learned valuable lessons that have enabled peer supporters to be an important part of the VA healthcare workforce. More information can be found online through the Peer Support Services in Veterans Affairs webinar.

Additional resources for information on peer support workers are listed below.

• The California Association of Social Rehabilitation Agencies (CASRA), with support from Integrated Behavioral Health Project and funding from the California Mental Health Services Authority, has developed the online toolkit, Meaningful Roles for Peer Providers in Integrated Healthcare. This toolkit provides integrated care settings with information on how to best hire, train, integrate, and retrain health-trained peer support specialists into multi-disciplinary teams. It includes sample job descriptions.
• The Faces & Voices of Recovery website offers a list of workplace conditions that are essential for effective peer support services, regardless of where they are delivered and/or where peer workers are deployed.
• The National Survey of Compensation Among Peer Support Specialists examines wages and salaries for the peer specialist workforce, with a specific focus on pay rate differences between the types of organizations in which they work, regional differences in compensation, and any prevailing inequities.