5,000 Peers Certified Statewide
Amie Miller, PsyD., Executive Director
This month, the behavioral health workforce reached a major milestone: more than 5,000 Peers are now certified as Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialists. Most importantly, in communities throughout California, more Peer support than ever is available through the state’s public behavioral health system.
It’s an incredible honor for CalMHSA to have been able to lead this important certification program. We know that Peers have a unique place and play a critical role in behavioral health, and seeing that role solidified gives us hope for recovery for so many who can now benefit from Peer support.
CalMHSA became the certifying entity for the Certified Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist Program when it was launched in 2022. Our team, many of whom are also Peers, have infused their own commitment to create a thriving program, overseeing:
- Certification of 37 training providers
- Development of exam offerings in 10 languages
- Certification of Peers in 54 counties
- Extension of the training to justice-involved individuals at nine institutions, with a plan for all institutions to have trained Peers by June of 2026
- A dashboard that includes aggregated data about Peers, searchable by county and by year
- A Best Practice Guide that helps employers understand the value of Peers in their workforce
Even as we pause to celebrate 5,000 certified Peers, we continue to find new ways to grow the program and new ideas for deepening your connections to Peers.
Later this month, for instance, we’ll be hosting a free in-person workshop for more than 200 Peers from around the state, a chance for them to learn about best practices in county behavioral health and draw inspiration from one another. We’ll follow that up with a free workshop designed especially for county leaders who want to strengthen their peer workforce continuum.
Uplifting the voice of Peers has been rewarding and groundbreaking — one of those most important pursuits in public behavioral health to come along in the last several years. We look forward to more growth in both scope and innovation, and to working alongside you and your peer workforce to further increase access to care in all communities.
March 7, 2025