Governor's Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force
January Spotlight Series

The Governor's Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force is releasing weekly spotlights throughout the month of January for Human Trafficking Awareness Month. These spotlights are intended to share new resources, initiatives, and information to aid in the state's anti-trafficking response efforts.

Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services: Peer Supporter Certification

Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services
Featuring Sharon Fitzpatrick

The Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) offers a Peer Support Training and Certification Program to allow individuals with a lived experience of mental illness and/or substance use disorders to become a certified peer recovery supporter. OhioMHAS also offers a cohort specifically for individuals with a lived experience of human trafficking.

Sharon Fitzpatrick
Sharon is the Community Recovery Initiatives Lead within the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services' Office of Community Planning and Collaborations. She has also served as a facilitator of the human trafficking cohort for the 40-hour Peer Support Certification Training.

Q&A with Sharon Fitzpatrick

What is a peer supporter, and what is the Peer Support Certification Program?

Sharon: Peer support is the process of giving and receiving encouragement and assistance to achieve and/or maintain recovery from mental illness and/or substance use disorders. It’s the act of connecting with one another through the sharing of one’s story and forging a relationship to help the person receiving services to move forward in their recovery.

Peer support improves one's quality of life, as well as increases engagement and satisfaction with services and support. Peer support services help to bridge trust with the behavioral health system, decrease hospitalization and criminal justice recidivism, and reduce the overall cost of services.

The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services began the official peer support certification process on July 1, 2016 to allow men and women with lived experiences of substance use disorders and/or mental illness to obtain a state certification as a peer supporter. 

You can learn more about the program here.

The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services offers a training cohort specifically for individuals with a lived experience of human trafficking. Why does OhioMHAS offer this specific cohort?

Sharon: While OhioMHAS only has one peer recovery support training model, we offer a cohort specifically for individuals with a lived experience of human trafficking. We found that the dynamics in terms of conversations, lived experience, and particularly with the traumas and other concerns, were quite different with the added element of having a lived experience of human trafficking versus the original peer support training cohort.

There was one woman who actually took the training twice, once in the general cohort, and once with the human trafficking cohort, and she got so much more out of the human trafficking cohort. She said she felt free to talk about the things that were really impacting her without feeling judged, because she felt as though the members of the general cohort didn’t understand. Her experience validated and confirmed the value of the human trafficking cohort. Now the participants are able to talk about all that they experienced together, on top of the mental health, trauma, and substance use disorders, which many times were a result of being trafficked.

Who is eligible to obtain the state peer supporter certification?

Sharon: To participate in the general cohort, eligible participants are individuals who have a mental illness and/or substance use disorder. The participant must have that lived experience personally, not his or her mom, husband, children, etc.

For the human trafficking cohort, participants must have a lived experience of human trafficking, as well as mental illness and/or a substance use disorder.

What is the process for obtaining certification?

Sharon: The process is two-fold.

First, participants must identify a training via the online calendar on the OhioMHAS website. Complete the 40-hour training (which is now virtual) and then pass the state's exam.

Second, participants must complete a 16-hour online training through our E-Based Academy, complete a peer recovery supporter certification application, a criminal justice background check through the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and have that sent to the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

If you have questions about the certification process, you can email ohiopeercertification@mha.ohio.gov

What are the benefits of getting the state certification as a peer supporter?

Sharon: Certification provides a career ladder for peers. In some instances, it provides opportunities for peers to have their services reimbursed if they are working for a provider agency. But most important of all, peer support complements other services and treatment interventions. Peer supporters lock arms with those in recovery, and they help to engage the continuum of care for the people we serve. Peer support is an industry-recognized credential within the behavioral health workforce, so the credential often helps peers gain and access employment.

What are examples of possible employment opportunities for certified peer supporters? Where have they gotten hired?

Sharon: Peer supporters can obtain employment within peer-run organizations and recovery community organizations, drop-in centers, clubhouses, crisis service centers, warm lines, and domestic violence shelters.

They also work in community behavioral health centers, homeless shelters, supported living facilities, jails, and hospital emergency departments. In just about any element of the service industry, peers can be an asset in employment. Peer support services for substance use disorders are also billable to Medicaid.

Ohio's state psychiatric hospitals also now have a state classification for peer supporters, with a working job title of Certified Peer Recovery Supporter. Prior to that classification, the hospitals employed peers as contract workers. The administration is demonstrating its commitment to elevate the peer support workforce, by creating and implementing peer support positions with state classification.

Can service providers initiate a peer supporter training for their clients who may be interested? How many individuals need to sign up in order to schedule the training? 

Sharon: Absolutely. We really encourage service providers to initiate hosting peer supporter trainings for their clients, whether specialized for human trafficking or not. And we also encourage organizations to reach out to their neighboring partners who may have the same need and not have enough participants, as we have a minimum participant requirement of 10 people to host the 40-hour training.

We also put the peer supporter trainings on our website, and if it’s a closed training for a human trafficking cohort, we can connect you with our training coordinator. Click here to view the calendar of upcoming trainings.

Please email ohiopeercertification@mha.ohio.gov with any questions.