Search

PA Peer Support Coalition

Home / About Us / Activities and Accomplishments

Activities and Accomplishments

Welcome to the Pennsylvania Peer Support Coalition’s Activities and Accomplishments page. This page highlights some of the activities and accomplishments of the Pennsylvania Peer Support Coalition. It will be updated regularly as we add new offerings and achieve new milestones.

Coalition Activities

We hold workshops and trainings on recovery and peer support.

We host an annual state-wide conference for all peer professionals.

We organize and support regional Recovery Ecosystem Coalition (REC) meetings throughout Pennsylvania.

We compile information about Certified Peer Specialist, Certified Peer Specialist Supervisor, Certified Recovery Specialist, and many other trainings. We help individuals locate these trainings and give information about ways to pay for trainings.

We have representation on and participate in the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Mental Health Planning Council meetings ensuring the peer and recovery voice is being heard at the state level.

Coalition Accomplishments

  • 2021: PaPSC became a vendor of the CRS training
  • June 2021: Successfully held our third annual conference which took place virtually due to continued COVID precautions. As part of this conference we officially welcomed all peer professionals (CPS, CRS, CFRS, Family Peer Specialists, etc.) under our coalition.
  • October 2020: The PaPSC is awarded a three year grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) to help expand and support peer professionals in a 52 county region of Pennsylvania.
  • August 2019: In partnership with the Keystone Pride Recovery Initiative (KPRI) ran the pilot for the newly developed Providing Welcoming Peer Services for the LGBTQ+ Community
  • June 2019: Successfully held our second annual state-wide conference.
  • 2018: Created and piloted an Ethics training based on the new Code of Ethical Conduct for Pennsylvania Certified Peer Specialists.
  • April 2018: Held the first ever PaPSC state-wide conference for Peer Support Specialists in State College, PA with 170 attendees. Dedicated to continuing state-wide conferences for Pennsylvania Peer Support Specialists on an annual basis.
  • 2017: Partnered with the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and the Pennsylvania Certification Board to create a formal credentialing process for Pennsylvania Peer Support Specialists.
  • August 2016: Became the training vendor for the Orientation to Medicaid Funded Peer Support Documentation training.
  • January 2015: Partnered with Pennsylvania Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to create the three-day CPSs in Crisis Services Training.
  • 2013: The Pennsylvania Peer Support Coalition becomes an independent, non-profit organization.
  • March 2011: Helped plan and launch the statewide roll-out of the three-day Peer Support within the Criminal Justice System training in collaboration with Pennsylvania Mental Health Consumers’ Association and Drexel University (funded through a grant by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency).
  • January 2010: Helped implement the first statewide survey for Certified Peer Specialists in Pennsylvania in partnership with OMHSAS, University of Pennsylvania, Mental Health Association of Southeastern PA, and Recovery Innovations, for the purpose of learning more about CPS training and employment experiences.
  • November 2009: Launched the Peer Support Continuing Education Days. These training days are held quarterly and provide free continuing education hours for peer support specialists.
  • September 2009: Provided a one-day retreat in northeastern Pennsylvania on leadership and advocacy, in collaboration with PMHCA’s Leadership in Recovery program.
  • July 2009 – February 2010: Helped facilitate the OMHSAS-hosted Peer Leadership Action Planning sessions.
  • May 2009: Implemented three-day Peer Support within the Criminal Justice System training in collaboration with The Main Link , OMHSAS, and PMHCA.
  • Winter 2008 – Spring 2009: Participated in the New Freedom Initiative Objective 3 workgroup and helped make recommendations to OMHSAS (Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services) issued by that group.
  • July 2008: Distributed full scholarships to six people to attend the National Association of Peer Specialists conference in Philadelphia.
  • March 2008: Nicole Darr hired as Coordinator, and first paid employee, for the Pennsylvania Peer Support Coalition.