you can get advice, you can get anything that you need from a group of people like this 'cause they've all been through the same thing i've been through, and we're all here for one thing, and that's to get back on our feet and to move on. [knocking] i think the whole goal of the next step is to take someone who is struggling, when pretty much every aspect in their life, and get them back on their feet, get all their ducks in place, so to speak. and my job here is to be, basically, their assistant in getting that done. and that is such a rewarding feeling to know that somebody has done all of this, and i've helped them become more independent, and now they can really be supportive of themselves on their own, once they leave. they need to understand that i go through the same thing that they go through, and it's ok. it's ok to feel bad.

it's ok for you to wake up that day and not feel as good as you did the day before. and that's ok, and i'll be there for you. and in turn, they do the same for me. when i'm going through tough times, the clients know that, and they'll call me, "how you doin'?" you know, you teach them that it's ok to feel. it's ok. and the only way that you can do that is to show them that you feel, too. now that i'm in school, to get my ged, i eventually want to go to school and be in some kind of peer support like you do. ok. now that i've come through the pain and the anguish on the other side, i've grown because of it. now it's like it's important to me to help someone else. it's important to me because helping you helps me. helping someone else makes me feel good, and it's part of my recovery. to help someone else keeps me right where i need to be 'cause i learn from your experiences, and you learn from mine. leah, i'm coming back to you with the question of where does

one house a peer-to-peer services? what organizational settings are appropriate for peer-to-peer? it's so diverse, i mean it can, there are peer support groups actually in public state hospitals. that's one location. they are sometimes their own peer-run organizations, and the national empowerment center really highlights the work of these peer-run organizations that are creating their own services through a mixture of, they might receive some federal funding, some state funding, but operate relatively independently. so, you might find those. you have a very exciting development called the peer crisis respite, which is almost like a home-like setting. it's a small, tastefully decorated house where people can come who are in crisis. they get round-the-clock support. it's very informal. you can cook and eat together and come and go as you please and just get that support until you are ready to come back to your life as it was before the crisis.

so, that's a very exciting setting, and these are just homes in communities, you know. so, it really can run the gamut, pretty much like i said, from a state hospital institution to these small home-like environments. go ahead, michael. i'll just piggyback off that. that decreases hospitalization. absolutely. so, that decreases also cost, and that's what we want to see, you know, decrease of cost, as well as hospitalization. and if a person in the community knows i have a place of respice to go to, and i don't have to go behind a wall, you know, that's less anxiety and less being overwhelmed, that i can go into a place where i can feel warm and comfortable and have that, just, opportunity just to have like a safe haven. absolutely. and let's talk about the housing. i wanted to come back from the last panel to the whole issue of housing. how difficult is it to get housing for individuals that are leaving the justice system?

oftentimes, i know for myself, the men and women that i engage, we are using the shelter system right now. they have to, you know, go through an intake process and get properly placed. you know, it depends on their actual offense. some of the facilities who house the homeless don't take certain individuals because of certain offenses. so, housing is something that is we're working on, as a system, is working on, and it's definitely a great need because there's not enough houses to realistically contain, you know, the epidemic of housing, you know, for those who are incarcerated. and tom, that certainly holds true also for someone that's in recovery for substance use disorder, if a peer-to-peer

system is attempting to get them help with housing. i mean, i think there are more options such as oxford houses, and-very successful, by the way. i mean almost 80 percent of sobriety rates and sustainment, you know, for individuals who are there. so, talk to me a little bit more about that. well, oxford houses has, you know, thirty or more years of history in terms of affordable recovery housing across the country, and now we also have the national alliance of recovery residences, which is organizing other kinds of recovery housing. but the essential thing is- and what do they do, the national alliance? they're developing standards, and they're developing a network across the country that- oh, everyone who provides- correct. -including oxford houses? i don't think they include oxford houses yet. i think they're parallel systems, right now. the important thing to sort of underline here is that for somebody in early recovery, there's two things that are

unarguably essential, and it's housing and employment. and for folks with criminal justice history, depending on the state, there's often barriers to those things. you can't get a job; you can't get housing. so, how are you supposed to maintain and stabilize your recovery without those two essential ingredients? so, not only do we have to like build these systems, we have to lift the discriminatory barriers that are keeping people from accessing those essential resources. monica. we also have what we call access to recovery, which are supportive housing programs that allows an individual coming from treatment, either long-term or short-term residential treatment, to be able to gain access to housing through federal funds, to be able to pay for them for up to two months, to be able to give them that cushion that allows them not to stress about being able to, "where am i going to live?

how am i going to pay for, you know, where i live?" and what that does is it eliminates some of the barriers and some of the stresses that are associated with exiting treatment. that gives the individual the opportunity to save their money or apply for benefits, or if they've already applied while in treatment, or in some type of supportive services, that allows them to be able to live free and clear of having to worry about, "how am i going to live? where am i going to live?" and that gives them the opportunity to get linked to peer support through the housing opportunities. leah, i'm coming back to you. let's change the subject a little bit, or shift. let's talk about how these peer-to-peer programs help to promote inclusion and social acceptance of individuals in recovery. yeah, this is a fantastic question. there's a form of stigma researcher named patrick

corrigan, and he says that one of the best ways to reduce stigma and discrimination is to sort of hear the first-person experiences and to interact and see this person. so, a lot of peers are very open, and they speak out publicly about their experiences, and they promote this idea that recovery is possible for everyone, regardless even if you have the most severe mental health diagnosis, you know. we have scores of people who have completely rebuilt their lives. so, there's something so powerful about that, that just sharing that hope, promoting a message-because so many people, when they come into mental health systems, just come away with these really kind of hopeless messages, like, "this is going to be the way it is for you for the rest of your life. just accept that you can't really dream big or achieve much," you know. and our peer recovery movement is just kind of completely blowing that out of the water, and says, "no, there's a life in the community that's possible-" absolutely. "-for everyone." can i add to that? absolutely. leah makes a really good point.

and it's, you know, we always say that peer integrity and recovery values are essential in peer recovery support services, and for that to happen- and what does that mean, if i don't know anything about the system? well, it means that the recovery community has to be involved in how these happen. and there's two things that we stress, and one is leadership development, and one is participatory process. and participatory process means that decisions for the program aren't made at the top; it involves everyone in the community in making those decisions. so, program development, program implementation, program evaluation-peers are involved in every single level. so, it's not just a service position or service role that's cut and pasted into a pre-existing work force. this is real recovery-oriented systems of care involving the organized recovery community. and let me fill in with that, also. having that peer involved in that is a buy-in process. if i know that, you know, what i'm saying is being heard

throughout the system, you know, i as a peer not only will work harder at that, but i'm going to be able to talk to my other peers that are in the program, you know, about certain situations. you know, to be an advocate. you know, there's always supposed to be an advocacy, an advocate board, in any type of program, so that way peers kind of understand, if we're havin' this kind of food, who decided that we have this kind of food? if we have this kind of outings, who decided we have these kind of outings? you know, it has to be, like you said, at the foundation. complete engagement. complete engagement. excellent. excellent. let's talk a little bit about-very briefly because we have to go into break in a minute-but let's start a conversation about how we are training peer-to-peer, tom. there's a lot of different trainings out there, and basically i would say it's, most of them are 40 hours, just for the initial training. peers are trained in a variety of things, like motivational interviewing, so they get those engagement techniques.

peer ethics-which are different than clinical ethics-roles and boundaries, how to do a recovery plan that the peer owns-that is very different from a treatment plan-some very basic things in terms of how people can use their life experience but in a very, i would say, appropriate and authentic kind of way. very good. is that something that also your empowerment center does? well, we don't provide trainings, specifically, but there are so many exciting- but you refer? we absolutely, and we really- talk to us a little about what the center does. well, the national empowerment center, we're one of three consumer-survivor technical assistance centers that are funded by samhsa, and we, one of the functions is to provide information resources referral. we have people calling us looking for recovery resources in their community.

we connect them with peer-run organizations, hopefully in their state. and another thing we do is we help consumer, state-sorry-statewide, consumer-run programs to develop their advocacy and to develop their non-profit skills and to just become stronger advocates within their states. so that's- so, public educators. that, too, yeah. i mean, the functions run the gamut, yeah. but it's just basically, you know, providing the technical assistance to these groups to be the most effective advocates that they can in their states. very good. and that's a big piece of what we do. and when we come back, i want to touch more on the peer-to-peer coaching opportunities where people can get trained and become peer-to-peer support folks. we'll be right back. [music]

every day, i seek a positive- direction for my life- through my accomplishments. and now, with help- and support from my family and others, i own- i own- i own my recovery from addiction and depression. join the voices for recovery. it's worth it. for information on mental and substance use disorders, including prevention and treatment referral, call 1-800-662-help. brought to you by the u.s. department of health and human services. [music]

the mission of the penn north recovery center is to improve the quality of life, well-being of individuals and communities struggling to overcome substance abuse, poverty, homelessness, and crime, as well as health inequalities. after 20 years, we see on average 400 people a day come into the building to partake in some form of service, whether that's our housing program, our ged program, our job readiness program, treatment, peer support, or 12 step meetings. penn north happens to be in the center of baltimore city. there's a lot of history because i'm a native baltimorean, and what it means to me is, i have the opportunity to come in one of the most historic communities and help it get better, the same community that a lot of things happened for me, so that i can get better at my life.

that's what this place means to me. the definition of peer recovery support in my mind starts from the basis of friendship. it's about credibility, a trusting relationship, mutually beneficial, where the helper and the person being helped both receive therapeutic value. well, peer support recovery services has helped me in the aspect of it gives me a one-on-one with someone who is come from where i come from. and i say that because of the very title of it: peer support. one of your peers are supporting you. somebody that's been where you been, somebody that's done the things that you've done, seen what you've seen. and it's ironic because that was the purpose of me choosing to come here to this program, was because of the individuals that were in place were individuals that i knew, individuals that i trusted, individuals that knew me intimate. this has to be something that's heartfelt, something that's lived. it's not all about what i say, but watch how i live. i'm my best resource because i've been there. so, a lot of times, i don't have to go to a book

to assist a recoveree: it's all about what i already know, and that helps me to just make this thing even smooth. but, being committed to this is a must. you have to have a heart for this. it's like havin' a extra person that's right there with you, that's going along with this process just as you are, not to sidetrack or diminish the treatment experience that i went through, but being that i went through that experience, i understand better that, "i need somebody right here with me because i know i can't do this by myself. i need help. and i need someone that's gonna walk this walk with me," and that's what peer support does. this place works so well for so many is because of the love and the spirit that's here. it's the camaraderie. no one cares what your problem is. all they care about is what would you like for us to do to help you out.

that's it. tom, how engaged is faces & voices of recovery in promoting peer-to-peer training, and what states are offering peer-to-peer training right now? well, faces & voices of recovery-we have two initiatives right now. one is arco, which is the association of recovery community organizations. so, we have 85 members across the county, and we do capacity building and program development and leadership development with them, but we've also developed something called caprss, which is the council on accreditation of peer recovery support services. and we're building an accreditation system to accredit recovery community organizations and other qualifying organizations that do peer services to, if they pass standards that we've set, through community and through a lot of really hard work, through committee work- and what types of standards? what do the standards- they'd be organizational standards, they'd be practice

standards, they would be management standards, so that any organization that got accredited would be fully equipped to handle any kind of funding or any kind of development of peer recovery support services. and that means that they have to have the right level of staffing and the right referral points- and the right training of their staff and the right ethics development. so, it's a really rigorous process for folks to go through, but if they go through it, i can guarantee that they're fully equipped to be able to sort of handle on any level, no matter where the services are offered, if they're offered in the emergency room, if they're offered in a treatment organization, but the recovery community organization is responsible and accountable. and responsive. correct. leah, is that going on also with the peer support services that you are familiar with? yeah, i mean at this point, there isn't sort of one standardized peer support specialist training. there are several different ones that happen.

there's also more specialized trainings that people can get. for example, the hearing voices network-there's a hearing voices training to help people learn how to facilitate these groups which are designed for people who have that experience to help one another and learn and discuss coping strategies and things like that. so, that's an example of a very specific training. we also have one called emotional cpr. emotional cpr-very, very strong program. talk to me about that. emotional cpr is a program that's really been spreading around the country. it's very exciting, and it's designed not just for peer providers, but really even for lay people, administrators, really anyone who sort of has the possibility of interacting with someone in emotional distress. family members-it can be useful for that. and it really is just a way, it's kind of a three-step process with, the c is about connecting with the person and helping to meet them where they're at, when they're in crisis. and then the p is sort of for empowering, which is

helping that person to kind of regain a sense of control over their lives. and then, the r is for revitalizing, which is helping to connect them with community, resources, all the things we've been talking about, but it's a training that we've been getting tons of requests for. and how long is the training, for example? it varies. it's usually, this one is about two days. there's a four-day train-the-trainer. that's another exciting opportunity for people who want to go on to teach e-cpr in their community. and where can folks find out how they can access a training program? well, you can visit our web site, which is www.emotional-cpr.org, and there's a whole list of upcoming trainings. we have a few coming up this fall and winter that are open for registration, so it's a great opportunity for us. can i piggyback off that? in philadelphia, we're doing mental health first aid. and that was a week training.

they also have to train the trainers, also, and you know with that mental health first aid, you know, that particular public safety person acts as the band-aid until someone who is professionally licensed to give therapy gets involved in that particular person's life. also, you know samhsa did a train-the-trainer for trauma, you know, and, you know, one of the things is that, you know, trauma affects different people in different ways. same situation, but it will affect another person lifelong in a different way, so those are some other trainings also that i think that are really, you know, crucial in a development of a recovery-orientated system of care. very good. tom. recovery coaching-is it similar to peer-to-peer? recovery coaching is peer-to-peer, if it's done by peers. it's similar to a peer support specialist in the mental health arena.

it's usually one-on-one, and it's, you know, it's a combination of a shared experience, role modeling, sort of accompanying somebody through the process of early recovery, and sometimes literally accompanying them. like, it may not just be going to the child welfare department, or sending them to the child welfare department, or to the community college, it's walking somebody through that process, which can sometimes be really intimidating in early recovery. so, having that guide, or that navigator, along can be really, really beneficial. so, depending on the system, depending on the state, depending on the situation of where this person in recovery is, peer-to-peer can be named, can have different labels. yes. and, so on and so forth. i want to go back to tom's note about using the person that's participating in this group think in a recovery support

setting as people that go out into the broader community and speak on behalf of the recovery movement and speak about the benefits of these programs, tom. why is that important, tom? well, you know, we still live in a society that stigmatizes and shames mental illness and addiction, and that carries over into people's recovery, so you know, we're trying to train advocates to stand up and speak out to the community, to the greater community, but also to systems. when we talk about recovery-oriented systems of care, you can't do it without people in recovery. you can't do it without the organized recovery community, because where does recovery live? it lives where we live: it lives in our hearts, it lives on our streets, it lives in our communities, and we bring that valuable experience to that whole rosc, recovery-oriented systems of care, equation. and so that systems advocacy and that public education are still really vital and really, really important.

in philadelphia we have, with the department of mental health, we have taking recovery to the streets, where a person in recovery actually goes out to a recovery house. you know, they may go out to a recovery program, a day program, and talk about how a program has assisted them through their recovery process. that way, kind of people can see a face and kind of afterwards ask questions, you know, that they may not ask, you know, a counselor because they feel more comfortable with someone that just has that lived experience. but having a person being able to go through a program and share their life experiences, you know, about programs, you know, how they got through programs, what, you know, they thought was good for them, because they're all really talking about them keeping it on the "i" because, you know, each program is not going to work for each person the same way. and leah, it's also teaching, not only doing what michael is saying, but it's also teaching individuals in recovery to also speak to the different levels of

governmental systems and legislative systems about the needs of individuals, correct? absolutely. and i think one of the most exciting examples that i can give is the suicide attempt survivors movement, and how more and more that started as more of a family movement of people who've lost loved ones, but the suicide attempt survivors movement is now about bringing our voice to how suicide prevention is done, you know, in our society- excellent. i want to go back and just very briefly touch on, you said that people need to get out there, people need to get the word out. of course, national recovery month is a great vehicle to do this. and monica, i know that you are engaged in doing the recovery rally in baltimore. yeah. why is it important to hold big rallies during recovery month? i feel like it's necessary for the community that you live in, the community that you reside in, to see

how recovery individuals function, to celebrate the fact that these individuals have transitioned their lives from a state of dependence on drugs and alcohol, to a state of independence of being able to be self-sustaining, be employed, be educated, and just to celebrate what is being done in your area to support individuals, like we talked about earlier about the stigmas associated with recovery, or people that have had histories of addiction. but in celebrating their lives, in celebrating their accomplishments, it's a task for an individual to stop using drugs and sustain their life after that. so, i think it's very important to support those type of events to be able to show that your community is supportive of the effort of the individuals. and what is the event that's taking place in baltimore- it's- -for example, as an example of one of the events, many thousands of events that take place in the country during recovery month?

baltimore has its seventh annual-this year it's the seventh annual recovery rally run and walk, and it's being held september the 14th in druid hill park at the sundial pavilion. and what it is is, we get together, we celebrate individuals, we have a walk or a run around the reservoir, and just have a good time, fun fellowship for everybody, not just for individuals in recovery but their families, their children, everybody-people that support recovery, as well as those who are in recovery. and that's a great example of what national recovery month is all about. each september, we celebrate national recovery month throughout the country, and it is events, not only rallies for recovery, but it can be as simple as a dinner at home of you celebrating a loved one's recovery anniversary. anything that one can do to celebrate recovery is absolutely welcome, not only in september but throughout the year, and

we encourage you to visit our web site at www.recoverymonth.gov to get more information. it's been a great program. thank you so much for being here. thank you. for a copy of this program or other programs in the road to recovery series, call samhsa at 1-800-662-help, or order online at recoverymonth.gov and click on the "video, radio, web" tab. [music] every september, national recovery month provides an opportunity for communities like yours to raise awareness of substance use and mental health problems, to highlight the effectiveness of treatment, and that people can and do recover. in order to help you plan events and activities in commemoration of this year's recovery month observance, the free online recovery month kit

offers ideas, materials, and tools for planning, organizing, and realizing an event or outreach campaign that matches your goals and resources. to obtain an electronic copy of this year's recovery month kit and gain access to other free publications and materials related to recovery issues, visit the recovery month website at www.recoverymonth.gov, or call 1-800-662-help. [music]