We believe that advocacy for the peer support profession is a vital role of the PaPSC. To this end, we believe mental health services should lead to recovery. We believe everyone has the ability to live a full life, to contribute to society, to use their talents, and to grow. We believe that peer support specialists can help an individual move in this direction by supporting hope, self-advocacy, empowerment, and individual strengths.

We support efforts to transform Pennsylvania’s mental health system to become more recovery-oriented. A recovery oriented system is one that honors people’s choices, empowers them to make decisions, and supports them to have a full and meaningful life outside of the mental health system.

Members of the Board of Directors and representatives of the Pennsylvania Peer Support Coalition serve on, attend, and participate on many boards and advocacy groups including:

• Pennsylvania Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) Planning Counsel and its sub-committees
• Local and regional Community Support Programs (CSP)
• Transition to certification under the Pennsylvania Certification Board workgroup
• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) Service Members, Veterans, and their Families (SMVF) Technical Assistance (TA ) Center’s “Advancing Suicide Prevention Best Practices in Peer Support for SMVF” (SPPEER) workgroup and various sub committees
• Community Care Behavioral Health’s Advisory Committee

The Pennsylvania Peer Support Coalition keeps tabs on all issues concerning Peer Specialists locally and nationally. Its members serve on various boards and committees to ensure that our voices are heard. If there is ever a shift or clarification of policies and procedures that effect Peer Specialists the coalition will notify its members.

We will also be developing surveys and reaching out to the membership to get their thoughts on specific topics. The results from these surveys will be used to develop position papers on topics of interest which may include policies regarding collaborative documentation, transportation, state-wide certification, and other areas. All results and position papers will be distributed widely and posted on this website. Click on the titles below for information on specific surveys.