MAR 23: COMMUNITY WELLNESS &
PEER SUPPORTS
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“Look closely at the present you are constructing: it should look like the future you are dreaming.”
- Alice Walker
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We often think of the community and our organizations as though they are two separate and unconnected entities. However, it’s important we understand that our staff, and the services they provide, are extensions of our organizations. If we are truly committed to fostering culturally responsive peer services, we must begin this work by first modeling the way within our organizations and with our peer staff. We cannot effectively (or authentically) honor and celebrate the diversity and cultural values of our clientele and communities, without first honoring and celebrating the diversity and cultural values of our staff.
This issue of 5 Things Digest will focus on fostering culturally responsive peer services from the lens of first celebrating and honoring the cultural diversity of organizational staff. For the purposes of this digest, culture encompasses, but is not limited to: age, race, practices, values, ethnicity, nationality, spirituality/religion, beliefs, ability, health status, language, gender expression and identity, sexual orientation, class, education, and geographic location.
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#1: Diversity
The composition of peer and peer supervisory staff should be reflective of the culturally diverse communities you are seeking to work with and within. There are limited aspects of a culture that can be learned during a training; most information is learned from our experiences with individuals whose cultures differ from our own. Therefore, staff with diverse lived and life experiences are critical to truly understanding and engaging with diverse communities.
Diversity should not be limited to peer staff; cultural diversity should exist among staff who are in senior leadership, management, and board roles as well. Diverse leadership is essential in ensuring policies, procedures, and processes are responsive to the needs of the individuals who are receiving services, and not further marginalizing them or forcing them to assimilate to practices that are incongruent with their cultural preferences.
An article describing the impacts diverse peer support staff have when working with Black and Latina/o youth and young adults with serious mental health challenges
Resources and tool kits for behavioral health and community wellness organizations committed to the emotional/mental health and healing of Black communities
Peer support and culturally relevant resources to engage, educate, and empower Asian Americans to seek help for mental health challenges
Resources to support the unique needs of today’s diverse families
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#2: Equity
If we truly respect and value the expertise that peer staff bring to the table, we must ensure thrivable wages. A thrivable wage is one that enables peer staff to fully take care of themselves and live with a sense of dignity. This is the message and advocacy that we engage in with our youth, young adults, and families, and it should mirror the work that we are doing internally with our peer staff. Thrivable wages may require being creative with staff titles, job descriptions, and braiding funding. Equity also includes offering salaried positions, health care and fringe benefits, opportunities for professional development and advancement for peer staff. Ultimately, the ability to foster equity for peer staff directly impacts your organization’s ability to outreach, engage, and retain the expertise of diverse staff. These should be priorities, as the consequences of not doing so directly and adversely impact client outcomes.
National survey results regarding the salaries for peer support staff and tips for calculating salaries
Recommendations for Colleges and Universities to Support the Emotional Well-Being and Mental Health of Students of Color
National survey results regarding racial leadership gaps in the nonprofit sector, and strategies for fostering equitable workplaces
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#3: Inclusion
Freedom to speak authentically and without adverse consequences is critical to fostering culturally responsive peer services. Many times, we say we want peers to be included at the decision-making table, but obstruct their authentic participation when we hand-select the types of peers we want at the table, dictate what they should say when they are at the table, or how they should look and act when they are at the table. This is counterproductive to the provision of culturally responsive services, and is in fact extremely oppressive. If we are truly dedicated to being responsive to the needs and voices of the culturally diverse communities we serve, we must be willing to hear what all of our staff, clients, and families have to say, both negative and positive. This process enables us to identify blind spots, gaps, barriers, untapped strengths, and to become the best organization possible.
Peer support toolkit of best practices to assist organizations in developing peer-inclusive practices
Toolkit of best practices for fostering inclusive organizational cultures for young adult peer support staff
Tip sheet of key considerations for integrating peer support staff in behavioral health organizations
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#4: Belonging
The ultimate next step for ensuring culturally responsive peer services is to not just invite staff to sit at the table, or to just to allow them speak, it’s to use the information they have shared to inform the entire organization’s policies, procedures, and processes. The information and implementation of voice, choice, and ideas should expand beyond peer support services to care coordination meetings, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary team meetings, community partnerships, strategic planning, program development, and board meetings. Belonging is the point in which the organization has tapped into and embedded the fullest potential of its staff’s diverse values, ideas, experiences, and beliefs. This is where the magic truly happens!
An example of a healthcare/behavioral health organization who has committed themselves to ensuring belonging for its employees by creating a formal belonging program
An article that discusses the impact of belonging on organizations, and strategies for implementing belonging initiative
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#5: Evaluation
Evaluation is critical for ensuring your organization’s mission, vision, actions, and processes align. It’s one thing to say that you want to foster culturally responsive peer services, and it’s a completely different thing to be intentional in your actions for achieving it. There are various strategies that can be utilized for achieving culturally responsive peer services. It’s critical to first determine where your organization is currently, what success will look like, and what resources and skills are needed, and to establish time-specific outcome measures. Engaging all organizational staff in the process is key. Simultaneously, it's critical as well to facilitate listening sessions with enrolled youth, young adults, families, organizational staff, and community members who can inform the processes, and hold the organization accountable. To ensure long-term sustainability and accountability, cultural responsiveness should be included in your organization’s policies, continuous quality improvement plans/processes, and as a competency on staff performance appraisals.
Tool kit for understanding, assessing and evaluating cultural competence and cultural responsiveness in behavioral health organizations, services, and programs
A variety of resources to assist with building, accessing, and evaluating cultural responsiveness in behavioral health services
Resources to support the planning and development of evaluation tools, measures, goals, processes, and procedures
Strategies for developing policies that support long-term individual and community well-being
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Contact the National Training and Technical Assistance Center for
Child, Youth, and Family Mental Health
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Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and content expressed in this email do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). |
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