"I've Been There": How Connecticut Can Expand Family and Youth Peer Support Services

Family and youth peer support services are a well-established component of children’s behavioral health services in many states. Peer support specialists can serve as credible messengers, improve treatment engagement and completion, and improve outcomes for children and adolescents with behavioral health concerns. Peer support work is anchored in shared lived experience, strategic sharing of personal story, and emotional support that offers a unique approach and benefit distinct from other roles. 

• Family peer support specialists are parents and caregivers with lived experience navigating behavioral health and related systems who are trained to support other parents and caregivers
• Youth peer support specialists are young adults (typically ages 18-29) with personal lived experience receiving behavioral health services (or related system interventions) as children or youth, who are trained as young adults to support youth

While there is a strong family peer support specialist infrastructure within Connecticut, implementation remains limited. There is an opportunity to expand the unique roles of family and youth peer support specialists more systematically.

In our latest report, authors Aleece Kelly, MPP, Meghan Flynn, PhD, and Jason Lang, PhD, explore:

• Emerging evidence on the benefits of and best practices for integrating family and youth peer support within children's behavioral health services
• Services and infrastructure already in place in Connecticut and other states
• Perspectives from parents, youth, and providers
• Recommendations for state leaders and providers on how to strengthen, fund, and expand these unique services in Connecticut

This report was prepared by CHDI for the Children’s Behavioral Health Plan Implementation Advisory Board with funding from the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF). It builds upon 2023's Strengthening the Behavioral Health Workforce for Children, Youth, and Families: A Strategic Plan for Connecticut. One of the strategic plan's eight recommendations was to expand the youth and family peer support workforce. 

Download Executive Summary (PDF)

Download Full Report (PDF)

Note: the findings and recommendations in this report are specific to services within the child behavioral health continuum. In Connecticut, services for children (under 18) are within the purview of DCF, while the adult system is under the purview of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS).

Learn about CHDI's behavioral health workforce development initiatives

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Peer Support Project Steering Committee for their guidance and support throughout the development of this report as well as the many providers, family members, youth, and key informants whose participation in interviews, surveys, and focus groups made this report possible. Steering committee members and contributors included family and youth representatives and advocates, representatives from multiple Connecticut state agencies as well as behavioral health leaders from other states, and nonprofit children's behavioral health providers. Learn more about these important contributors in the full report. 

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