Empowering Recovery Through Certification

Expanding and improving access to quality peer-based recovery behavioral health services

In September 2021, Dr. Melissa Hirschi, (PI) and Dr. Susan Elswick (Co-PI) from the University of Memphis School of Social Work, were awarded a $1.5 million dollar grant, Peers Engaging and Empowering Recovery (PEER), from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Behavioral Health Education and Training (BHWET) Program for Paraprofessionals. The PEER grant also works with partners from the state, including the Tennessee Association of Alcohol, Drug, and other Addiction Services (TAADAS) who oversee the training; and partners from the State of Tennessee Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services (TNDMHSAS). In June of 2023, Dr. Sarah Leat, assistant professor in Social Work, became the PI of this grant. Tracy Humphrey is the project coordinator of this grant.

This four-year PEER grant intends to expand the number of Certified Peer Recovery Specialists (CPRS) across the state of Tennessee to provide services for mental health and/or substance use disorders by providing stipends to individuals interested in receiving CPRS certification. CPRS are individuals with lived experience with substance use who do not have formal educational in behavioral health who are interested in supporting those who are struggling with substance use. They utilized their lived experience to partner with individuals in their recovery journey. CPRS work in a variety of settings, including behavioral health clinics, social services, and government entities.

The goals of the PEER program are:

Expand and improve access to quality peer-based recovery behavioral health services.

1. Improve trainee knowledge and skills for working in integrated and interprofessional behavioral health & primary care settings using team-based care.
2. Promote technology integration in the provision of CPRS training programs through the development of a portal system known as CADRE. 

The University of Memphis PEER program and its partners has developed supportive technology called the CAreer Development for Peer REcovery specialists (CADRE) system. This technology that will assist the peer field with monitoring, maintaining, and navigating the certification and experiential processes across the state. The CADRE system is an integrated web-based portal that will support the Peer and Family Support specialists of Tennessee with navigating their continuous professional development within their fields of practice throughout their lifelong pursuit of knowledge and growth within the profession.

We are currently in our fourth year and the grant and have provided financial stipends in the amount of $551,660.40 and 101 individuals across the state have become certified as Peer Recovery Specialists. The individuals who have become CPRSs are placed in agencies and organizations across the state of Tennessee and are offering support to and innumerable amount of people struggling with substance use. The PEER program has given individuals who may not have been able to come CPRS due to financial strain to opportunity to receive the certification and use their lived experience with substance use to mentor others.

At the end of the process, we ask our certified peers to share with us what they learned. Below are some of the responses:

“That there are people supporting the peer support evolution and they see the vision and realize how effective we are in promoting healing and recovery.”

“There is so much I have learned that it is hard to list it all!! The most important thing I received from this program was the confirmation of my own personal beliefs that peer based recovery is some of the most effective and powerful forms of recovery there is, and I am extremely grateful for this program and what it has done for me to allow me to now work as a peer in the recovery community with not only the wisdom and perspectives of my experiences but now also empowered by the credentials to do so, giving me the validation and support that I have been searching for to truly make an impact in the lives of those around me who have and are struggling in the same ways that I have. This program is absolutely amazing!! Thank You all so very much!!”

“The PEER grant program helped me access so many amazing resources that I can share with people I work with. The program helped me remember just how human we are and that our issues are very much relatable to those who don't have a substance use or mental health disorder. I loved connecting with Tracy and Michelle with the state - they really helped me keep on track and maintain my excitement as a new CPRS. In a way, this program served as continued education upon completing the program and has made me a better CPRS when working with peers. I've gained so much more confidence in being a guide and support for people in recovery. Thank you!”

“I was given access to other people and resources I may not have been able to do without the program.”

For more information on this grant or research, contact Leat at srrbnsn2@memphis.edu.