Wherein the diagnosis marks us as "different" and separates us from the community, peer support creates common ground and the opportunity for inclusion.- Pat Deegan, The Legacy of Peer Support
Peer Support
As the oldest peer-run consumer advocacy agency in California, Cal Voices has successfully hired, trained, supported, and advanced the careers of peers working and volunteering in the Public Behavioral Health System (PMHS) for decades. We know what it takes to create lasting employment success for peers, and we not only talk the talk; we have been walking the walk for over 40 years. Every single Cal Voices program is peer-run and 100% staffed by peers.
​Cal Voices promotes peer support and recovery in all programs to build relationships with our service users. We believe an introduction, explanation, and recovery plan should be verbalized by someone who has experienced it. Peer support is an effective cost-saver in mental health costs by reducing the need for emergency services and helping users recognize that life beyond diagnosis requires more than therapeutic encouragement. In addition, we engage in research on and with peer support workers to find out the conditions on the ground for these workers.
Research
In almost every program, we seek to determine the conditions facing the peer workforce. We seek to understand what is working and what is not working, including whether Peer Support Specialists experience stigma due to their behavioral health conditions. Our agency is skilled at gathering data through surveys, key informant interviews, focus groups, and supportive technical assistance. The evidence we have gathered through our extensive data collection and research has informed our strategies and approaches to providing peer support, educating and training others, as well as advocating for a recovery-oriented behavioral health system and the peer support workforce.
Advancing the Peer Workforce
Cal Voices’ Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist Certification Training is an approved training program for the California Peer Support Specialist Certification. To further support the growth of the Peer Support Specialist workforce, we have established the California Association of Peer Professionals. We are thrilled to collaborate with clients/consumers, parents/caregivers, family members, transition-age youth, current and prospective peer employers, public employee unions, and other stakeholders to create a valuable, collaborative, and innovative network that will empower peers to perform meaningful work in the behavioral health field.
What is Peer Support?
Peer Support Specialists use their lived experience to support individuals and families in recovery from mental health and/or substance use challenges. Peer support is a system of giving and receiving help based on key principles, including shared responsibility and mutual agreement on what is helpful. We draw on our shared lived experiences to assist others who are facing similar challenges.
What is Lived Experience
Lived experience refers to the direct circumstances, situations, and events that an individual has personally encountered. In this context, it pertains to having firsthand experience with mental health challenges or substance use issues.
The Peer Formula
Sharing your Lived Experience with others experiencing a similar life challenge; using your Lived Experience to create an authentic connection; modeling how you overcame your challenge to inspire and motivate others who are now going through it