Peer Support Specialist Training Program
We, Healthcore Possibilites Inc., have partnered with Lutheran Social Services of Southern California in a very important project – the training and support of individuals who wish to become Peer Support Specialists (PSS). This project is being funded by a grant from the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAi) administrating the Workforce Education and Training (WET) Grant Program, a component of the State’s MHSA. This particular WET grant provides the opportunities for public, private, and nonprofit organizations, including faith based and community-based organizations (CBOs), to conduct training and support that facilitates the placement of peer personnel. For this project, peer personnel are defined as individuals with experience as a mental/behavioral health services consumer, family member, and/or caregiver placed in designated peer positions within the Public Mental Health System (PMHS). Unique about this project is that all the training, and most individual support, are conducted on-line in a format that allows the participants to learn at their own pace without the need to travel to training sites or disrupt their current schedules.
About Lutheran Social Services
Lutheran Social Services of Southern California began in December 1944 when a group of San Diego area Lutheran congregations came together to discuss how to better assist families in need. We began discussing how to form a Welfare Commission. The vision expanded when we came together with another group of Lutheran congregations in the Los Angeles area having the very same conversation. Lutheran Social Services of Southern California was officially incorporated in 1946 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit social service agency. The mission has stayed true to its earliest beginnings, to be a servant to those in need. Today LSSSC serves thousands of individuals and families throughout Southern California with over 70 different programs/services at nearly 20 different locations. We are part of the Lutheran Services in America (LSA) network and strive to serve those in need with dignity and respect
HCP's Project Role
HCP has designed and deployed the social media and online content for promoting the PSS program; and working with Spotlight Story Productions, created the realtime and online training programs and tracking algorithms for monitoring PSS outcomes including completion of training, and “online community forum” for graduates. HCP uses current technology to create content commonplace in media which enhances our client’s role as a healthcare leader within their own sphere of influence.
Jaziah: What Does It Mean To Be a Peer Support Specialist?
Introduction from The Program Coordinator Mirian Rodriguez
About the Peer Support Specialist Training & Placement Program
A Peer Support Specialist has lived experience and is trained and certified to provide help and encouragement for others who are also working their way toward wellness. These specialists may go by different names in different settings. For example, they may be called Certified Recovery Support Specialists, and in the Department of Veterans Affairs, they are referred to as Peer Support Technicians. Regardless of what title they have, Peer Support Specialists all have a common commitment to helping others, working from a strengths-based perspective. Utilizing peers with shared experiences to deliver services is empowering, and research has proven that this approach is a highly effective in program in reaching those in need. If you are interested in learning more about how to become a Peer Support Specialist, or just want to learn more about the profession, just follow the link by clicking on the button below. It will take you to the LSSSC PSS Web Page. Thank you for your interest.
