Official websites use .gov
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
Mental health: leading practices for state programs to certify peer support specialists : report to Congressional committees
Mental health: leading practices for state programs to certify peer support specialists : report to Congressional committees
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Contributor(s):
- United States. Government Accountability Office, issuing body.
United States. Congress, issuing body. - Publication:
- Washington, DC : United States Government Accountability Office, November 2018
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Certification
Mental Health Recovery
Peer Group
Psychosocial Support Systems
United States
United States. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Why GAO did this study. As the peer support workforce has grown, there has been increased attention to standardizing the competencies of peer support specialists through certification. The 21st Century Cures Act included a provision for GAO to conduct a study to identify best practices related to training and certification in peer support programs in selected states that receive funding from SAMHSA. This report, among other things, describes leading practices for certifying peer support specialists identified by program officials in selected states. GAO interviewed state program officials in six selected states and reviewed online, publicly available information about their peer support programs. GAO selected the states in part based on the state's certification program being well-established (at least 2 years old), use of SAMHSA funding for peer support, and stakeholder recommendations. The six selected states--Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Texas--are among the 41 states and the District of Columbia that, as of July 2016, had programs to certify peer support specialists. In addition to the state program officials, GAO interviewed SAMHSA officials and 10 stakeholders familiar with peer support specialist certification, including mental health researchers and officials from training organizations, among others. GAO provided a draft of this report to HHS for review and comment. The Department did not have any comments. What GAO Found. According to officials from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), shortages in the behavioral health workforce are a key reason that individuals with mental illnesses do not receive needed treatment. In recent years, there has been an increased focus on using peer support specialists—individuals who use their own experience recovering from mental illness to support others—to help address these shortages. Program officials GAO interviewed in selected states generally cited six leading practices for certifying that peer support specialists have a basic set of competencies and have demonstrated the ability to support others.
- Copyright:
- The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (ii, 33 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101766098 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101766098