Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Paraprofessionals - Mental Health & Addiction Association of Oregon (MHAAO), a peer-run organization with decades of experience in peer support, technical assistance, and training, strives to strengthen its existing comprehensive peer support specialist training through the addition of experiential, interdisciplinary learning sites and increased student support thereby reducing barriers to employment in the peer-delivered services field. Through its Project PEER (Peer Education & Experience Roadmap) Level 1 pre-service program, MHAAO has built upon its strong networks - including hospitals, treatment centers, shelters, and more - to identify and develop experiential training sites for peer support trainees to get hands-on experience working in a variety of interprofessional settings providing peer support, including a focus on medically underserved communities (MUC) sites, across Oregon. To increase access to services across the state, MHAAO provides outreach, training, and internship opportunities that are reflective of the communities served: individuals who experience behavioral health challenges and come from a variety of backgrounds, geographies, and life experiences. Our extensive workforce development background includes supporting youth, young adults, and adults across the lifespan recovering from mental health, addictions, and trauma. Trainees receive individualized support and feedback during and after the 80-hour training and 6-month, 100-hour internships. We aspire to develop the future community leaders of the peer-delivered service workforce in Oregon, and have constructed a program screening and recruitment process to achieve a broad reach across the state. Our highly successful, virtual peer support training promotes accessibility for individuals throughout the state, and is currently one of only a few state-accredited programs eligible to train peers with regard to both mental health and addiction challenges. In addition to our core Peer Wellness Specialist certification course that prepares trainees to work in integrated, multidisciplinary settings, MHAAO also has a newly state-approved Youth Support Specialist training that focuses on working with youth and young adults. This will strengthen peer training offerings and enhance the ability of the Oregon peer-delivered services workforce to serve individuals with behavioral health needs, including youth and young adults. With our unique, individualized training approach and statewide network, we are positioned to work one-on-one with participants to identify and develop experiential learning opportunities in their communities where their geolocation may preclude travel to existing sites. In pursuit of this aim, MHAAO requests $348,872 annually for a four-year period to be used in the accomplishment of Project PEER (Peer Education & Experience Roadmap). At least 25 individuals with lived experience will be trained, supported, and certified per year, totaling 100 peers by the end of the project’s four-year term. All participants will receive tuition and stipend support. MHAAO is requesting the funding priority as a program for paraprofessionals that emphasizes the role of the family and the lived experience of the consumer and family paraprofessional partnerships. In addition to the funding priority, MHAAO is requesting funding preference qualification 1: high rate. As a competing continuation, from 2022 - 2024, 65.08% of Project PEER graduates have successfully obtained employment within medically underserved communities. Through our multiple state-credentialed peer certification trainings, we will increase the supply of behavioral health workers. Further, by training and supporting behavioral health paraprofessionals, including in rural areas, we will increase access to and distribution of the workforce. Overall, Project PEER is committed to improving the quality of the behavioral health workforce and the care they provide.
