Issue Brief 94: Expanding the Impact of Youth and Family Peer Support in Connecticut
Peer support services have a growing evidence base for improving engagement, empowerment, and recovery in behavioral health services. By drawing on lived experience, peer specialists provide non-clinical services including mentorship, emotional support, advocacy, and system navigation to foster trust, reduce stigma, and help youth and families remain engaged in care.
Despite their promise, youth and family peer support services in Connecticut are not widely accessible. The state has yet to establish Medicaid reimbursement for youth and family peer support and formal integration with behavioral health services is uneven.
But with stronger infrastructure and better integration into the behavioral health workforce, peer support services can be a critical resource to the children’s behavioral health system at a time when Connecticut urgently needs sustainable strategies to support a strained clinical workforce and expand access to care.
This issue brief outlines the key roles and responsibilities of youth and family peer support specialists and makes recommendations to strengthen peer support in Connecticut.
To learn more about strengthening Connecticut's Youth and Family Peer Support Workforce, stay tuned for a detailed report from CHDI coming later this year.
This Issue Brief was prepared by CHDI's Meghan Flynn, PhD, Aleece Kelly, MPP, and Jason Lang, PhD.
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