The Recovery INSPIRER
Welcome to
Peer Voice NC's
Monthly Newsletter!
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North Carolina has joined 26 other states that have received federal funding from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to build a unified, vocal, and influential statewide peer and "consumer" movement, Peer Voice NC (PVNC)!
This monthly update, along with weekly updates on PVNC's facebook page, will share progress, challenges and opportunities as PVNC evolves.
In this edition:
Mental Health Recovery: Vermont Study
Recovery Model
Peer Support and Recovery
Peer Specialists: What is Our Role?
It's Peer Support, Not Peer Pressure
PVNC Coalition Updates
Peer Policy and Legislative Coalition
Recovery Alternatives to Forced Tx
Peer Justice Initiative
Peer Support Standards
I'm In: Community Inclusion
PVNC Café
LGBTQ+ Recovery
Peer Support and Housing First
What's Next for PVNC?
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Peer Voice NC Is....
A grassroots
MOVEMENT
that is
by Us, for Us
to have a valued voice and leadership to advance recovery, resilience, peer and social justice related policies, standards and practices...
Guided by the
WISDOM
that can
only
be gained from being directly impacted
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Mental Health Recovery
The long held belief that people with substance use disorders can recover, however people labeled with "mental illness" can only stabilize, function and maintain has pervaded the behavioral health system, its practices, professional and educational training, and funding.
Longitudinal studies on mental health have demonstrated that the majority of people that have been labeled with severe mental illness do recover. The first well-known research was a 32 year longitudinal study conducted by Dr. Courtney Harding and colleagues beginning in the 1950's. The "Vermont Study" included 269 patients that were in the "back ward" of the state hospital in Vermont averaging 6 continual years. These individuals had been living with schizophrenia for 16 years and had an average of 10 years of total disability. In the 1980's, 97% of the individuals in this study were reassessed to determine whether they "remained as disabled" as they were upon planned discharge from the hospital into psychiatric rehabilitation programs.
Their findings demonstrated that 1/2 to 2/3 of these individuals fully or substantially recovered!
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The Vermont Study
Interested in the original study? Learn more about it, how recovery was defined and its outcomes below:
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In the 55 minute video,
"How Vermont Discovered the Possibility of Recovery,"
Dr. Harding lays out the empirical base for the recovery movement and how a combination of social support, hope, and a modest amount of medications for some produced better outcomes than was thought possible in psychiatry.
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Peer Specialists:
What Is Our Role?
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PVNC's Lyn Legere, distilled the "tasks" of Peer Workers into 3 primary functions:
Mutual Peer Support
- relational support based on the mutuality that exists when we too have "Been There, Done That." The relationship is the focal point and is guided by respect, supported decision-making, partnership, and non-hierarchical mutuality, among others. While most peer support trainings focus on this function, they need to emphasize the other two functions of a Peer Support Worker as well.
Change Agent
- as change agents, Peer Workers shift the way people are supported and understood within systems and services, challenging status quo and activating social justice change. Peer Workers advocate for organizational cultures that are respectful, healing and guided by recovery principles and practices including the on-going education that "Peer Support is NOT Peer Pressure." Peer Workers also ignite social change, advocating for policy changes around equity, human and civil rights.
Remaining 'In', but not 'of' the System
- Peer Workers must understand systems and their associated cultures and language, however do not simply become extensions of them, rather operate through the values and responsibilities of the peer role. Co-optation leads to ineffectiveness and Peer Workers uphold "Nothing About Us, Without Us!"
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Recovery Model:
A Complementary Approach
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Recovery Model of Mental Illness: A Complementary...
The current approaches to mental health and illness with their exclusive focus on symptoms, the partial response to treatment of many people with severe mental illness and their inability to get back to their pervious level of function and...
Read more
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
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Peer Support and Recovery
Is peer support effective in facilitating the process of recovery? Peer support is an evidence-based practice.
Among the outcomes and studies include:
-increased quality of life
-reduction in re-hospitalization rates
-reduction in hospitalization rates
-reduction of in-patient days
-increased engagement in services
-increase whole health
-increase in wellness self-management
-reduction of costs
Click
HERE for a list to over 60 peer support related studies and articles with links
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Goal 1:
Establish an independent, statewide mental health peer and "consumer" organization through coalition building and investing in peer leadership
Goal 2
: Develop and operate a NC Peer and Recovery Technical Assistance Center to incubate, launch and disseminate innovative recovery and peer support related tools, resources, models and training
Goal 3:
Enhance NCCPSS skills, knowledge and competencies by providing peer and recovery related continuing education and advanced education
Goal 4:
Enhance peer support supervisor skills, knowledge and competencies by providing peer and recovery related continuing education
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Peer Supporters challenge illness-based systems and services to facilitate wellness, healing and recovery. The role of Peer Specialists is to shape services toward recovery rather than Peer Specialists to be shaped to become clinical.
If your role is to "manage, monitor, or convince" people to "be compliant," you are using peer pressure, NOT providing peer support... know your role, educate your supervisor(s), and stand in authentic peer support!
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Meet the Strategic
Planning
Council
Dana Cea
Toya Hooper
Damie Jackson-Diop
Karen Gross
Ed Rothstein
Faith Rhyne
Melissa Lewis
Elliot Palmer Jr.
Laurie Coker
Mary Ferreri
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Currently, PVNC is organizing through topic based coalitions. These coalitions are led by people directly impacted by the issue(s) being addressed and are
OPEN
to anyone with expressed interest, including allies and family members. If you are interested in joining a PVNC coalition, make a request on the PVNC facebook page. Be sure check in weekly for updates from each coalition at:
www.facebook.com/pvncprn/
Current PVNC Coalitions:
- Peer Policy and Legislative Advocacy Coalition (PPAC)
- Peer Justice Initiative (PJI)
- Peer Wellness Centers Pilot
- Recovery Alternatives to Forced Treatment (RAFT)
- Peer Support Standards
- Youth and Collegiate Recovery Coalition
- Coming Soon... PSS in Integrated Settings
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Peer Policy and
Legislative Advocacy Coalition
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PVNC's newly formed Peer Policy and Legislative Advocacy Coalition is established to grow the policy-related knowledge, presence and voice of North Carolinian's in recovery.
"Times that Try Our Souls..."
This week I read this comment in an email from a fellow advocate regarding the impeachment trial in Washington. She said, "These are times that try men's souls..." I thought how profound it is that something that many of us do not like to engage, politics, does indeed hit a tipping point that conveys even the larger soul of a nation of people.
It is true that laws and policies are often the main vehicles for how communities respond to human need in a society. So how can we ensure that the political will of elected and appointed officials is informed by real experiences of people in their communities? I have thought about this for many years as I have witnessed with frustration the way people with mental health challenges are not fully regarded at the center of our policies and laws. HOWEVER, I find hope in the fact that
in North Carolina we are growing a movement and organizing this movement so its voice is heard by our decision makers!
Just before Christmas, I arranged for a meeting of some of us from Peer Voice NC in Raleigh so they could meet
Representative Verla Insko
and several legislative staff members of other elected officials. Our aim was to have a preliminary opportunity to introduce ourselves as passionate and informed advocates interested in organizing and educating peer leaders who can impact legislative and state law and policy. This is fresh stuff!
Until now, there has been almost no advocacy happening in North Carolina from the perspective of individuals with first-hand experience of ill-being who have regained mental well-being!
We believe the near-absence of our voices has harmed our public system as it’s developed and
we wanted Rep. Insko, who is known as the champion for the cause of mental health
in our General Assembly across decades, to be encouraged that there are passionate, knowledgeable (and younger!) advocates willing to prepare themselves to work in an organized way to impact law and policy.
And we wanted her input and guidance on how to start! We are thankful that she took the time with us that day and have taken her input forward as we start building an agenda for training and supporting Peer Voice NC members for meaningful, impactful effort!
So keep reading the Peer Voice NC News to learn more as we unfold the development of an advocacy coalition and extend a welcome to those who may be interested. Further, if you happened to sign up for the annual Legislative Breakfast on February 1, look for Peer Voice NC folks and make yourself known to us! Also, you can contact me, Laurie, by facebook messenger or by email (
lcokernc@gmail.com
) if you would value the leadership growth and education that will come from working on this with us!
We need “HEART”-y heads full of mush that are willing to dedicate themselves to impacting how laws are made and policy is impacted! So don’t worry if you have no experience or background for this. We will build our advocacy platform and learn about “processes” together! But we have to make a start, and 2020 is our year!
---PVNC Council Member, Laurie Coker
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Recovery Alternatives to Forced Treatment (RAFT) Coalition
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PVNC's RAFT coalition is comprised of people impacted by involuntary hospitalization, family members, clinicians and lawyers that are gathering data and examining the use of involuntary commitment (IVC) in NC including:
- Volume of IVC across each region
- Reasons for IVC (policies, legal, beliefs, liability, community gaps)
- Alternatives to IVC (national and international models and policies)
- Impact of IVC (trauma, cost, service engagement, human rights, etc.)
- Strategies to expand community-based recovery alternatives
RAFT is interested in hearing from YOU! What are your priorities and areas of interest?
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Peer Respite:
A Recovery Alternative
Peer-Run Respites provide alternatives to psychiatric hospitals for people experiencing emotional distress. Peer Respites are typically homes in the community, staffed by Peer Support Specialists that are trained in trauma-informed peer support, such as Intentional Peer Support.
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Transforming the Traditional Mental Health System...
This is a brief description of the project design and some reflections on "lessons being learned" at Second Story, a Peer Run Respite service in California. Second Story invites people to come before they are in crisis, to take personal...
Read more
www.madinamerica.com
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I'm IN: Community Inclusion
The i2i Center for Integrative Health has launched an initiative to promote meaningful inclusion of people with mental illness within their communities. The initiative is called,
I’m IN: Community Inclusion.
I’m IN: Community Inclusion is a joint project of i2i Center for Integrative Health and the NC Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services.
The goal of
I’m IN: Community Inclusion is to put into place more policies, programs, and practices that support individuals with mental illnesses so that they may participate more fully in the activities that define everyday community life. The initiative addresses the harsh reality that many people with serious mental illness are unemployed and may not have the “connections” within their communities that lead to meaningful participation.
I’m IN has recruited four Pilot Partner agencies across North Carolina that are committed to demonstrating innovative ways to include people with mental illness. The Pilot Partner agencies have received small grants ($1250) in the first year to support innovative activities. The Pilot Partners meet quarterly to share ideas and to create a learning network for their mutual benefit.
It is the aspiration of
I’m IN to build a broad network of agencies focused on creating more welcoming communities for people with mental illness. We are recruiting four additional Pilot Partners for 2020 that will be eligible for $1,000 activity grants and the opportunity to join our network. Please go to;
www.i2icenter.org for the link to the Pilot Partner application and share it with nonprofit groups that you think might want to apply.
Look for more information about I’m IN in future newsletters of PVNC. You can address questions about this initiative to: Michael Owen at
Michael@i2icenter.org.
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Peer Justice Initiative (PJI)
PJI is comprised of NCCPSS with lived criminal justice experience that are organizing to 1) establish a NC "Forensic Peer Support" (FPS) credential, 2) utilize nationally recognized FPS training to build the NC FPS workforce, 3) impact criminal justice reform efforts, and 4) advocate for FPS integrated into diversion, re-entry, and jail/prison efforts.
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“Forensic Peer Specialists embody the potential for recovery for people who confront the dual stigmas associated with serious mental illness and criminal justice involvement” (Davidson and Rowe, 2008).
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Forensic Peer Support Training
PJI members are committed to advancing the intentional and authentic use of forensically trained and credentialed Forensic Peer Support Specialists (FPSS) throughout all "intercepts" of the Sequential Intercept Model of criminal justice systems and has
engaged the Pennsylvania Mental Health Consumer Association (PMHA) and Drexel University to provide the 3-Day Forensic Peer Support Training in NC.
Forensic Peer Support Training is now scheduled and the application is open!
When:
April 1-3, 2020
Where:
Alliance Health
5200 W. Paramount Pkwy,
Morrisville, NC 27560
Time
: 8:30am-4:30pm
Cost:
$400
Application Deadline
: March 13, 2020
*This training is
ONLY
for NCCPSS that have personal experience in the criminal justice system that reside from
Eastern to Central parts of NC
.
*This class will be limited to 25 students selected based on their: 1) years of experience as a NCCPSS, 2) lived experience in criminal justice, 3) current work within criminal justice, and 4) experience with justice policy and system efforts such as "Ban the Box," Second Chance Policy, Re-Entry Council, Stepping Up Initiatives, Etc.
Once each group has been trained, they will work together to formulate recommendations for the NC Forensic Peer Support professional and training standards and credentialing.
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Peer Support Standards Coalition
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Peer Support Standards are inclusive of statewide training and continuing education, specialty credentialing, certification and re-certification, supervision, rates, service definitions/clinical coverage policies, selection, training and oversight of providers, opportunities for peer-run programs and organizations, development of a PSS trade association, and salary, employment and equity issues for the NCCPSS workforce.
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Recovery in the LGBTQ+ Community
My name is Dana M. Cea (pronouns she/her or they/them), I identify as queer and work to promote the mental health needs of the LGBTQ+ community. I will be writing a monthly article for the PVNC newsletter to contribute to the discussion of how Peer Support Specialists can support recovery among people within the LGBTQ+ community, starting with a basic understanding of terminology.
LGBTQ+ encompasses sexual orientations and gender identities that are viewed as outside of the assumed “norm” in North America (e.g., heterosexual, cisgender). It generally stands for: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and the + represents all of the identities that do not fall within LGBTQ.
Queer is sometimes used as an umbrella term for the LGBTQ+ community. At times the Q also stands for Questioning, however this can contribute to the negative connotation that sexual orientations and gender identities are just phases, therefore I typically do not recommend using it.
- Lesbian, gay, and bisexual often fall under the umbrella of sexual orientation;
- Sexual orientation includes those genders a person is sexually attracted to;
- Romantic or emotional orientation are those genders a person is romantically or emotionally attracted to;
- The genders a person is romantically or emotionally attracted to can be the same or different than the genders of their sexual attraction
Attraction is not simple. While people who identify as heterosexual or straight may be solely attracted to the opposite gender, the reality is that people can be attracted to a variety of genders, have varying degrees of attraction, or may have a complete lack of attraction.
Keeping in mind that these are identities, not labels, we recognize that how a person identifies is unique to them.
Interested in learning more about gender identity? Join us next month!
---PVNC Council Member, Dana M. Cea(pronouns: she/her/they/them)
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Peer Support and Housing First
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NC Peer Support Specialists (NCCPSS)throughout the state are saying
"homelessness cannot be fully understood if you haven't experienced it yourself."
Most importantly... they are being heard!
Peer Voice NC, NCDHHS and UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health, has partnered to ensure that the voices and wisdom of NCCPSS that have experienced homelessness are utilized to co-facilitate a 2-day NC Permanent Supported Housing (PSH) curricula that will be offered throughout the state to Community Support Teams (CST) and other behavioral health and housing services providers.
This group of PSH contracted trainers are sharing their knowledge of resources, system navigation, experiences of homelessness, insight, and ways in which services and supports were and could have been more effective while living in tents, abandoned buildings and cars, group homes and transitional housing programs. Currently, approximately 15 NCCPSS with lived experience of homelessness from western through central NC have been trained and an additional 5 will be trained in January in eastern NC.
More information about the training, locations and costs will be shared as details become available!
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PVNC is currently working on the following:
- Youth and Collegiate Recovery Coalition being formed
- PVNC Website (coming soon!)
- NC Peer Support White Paper
- Development of formal recommendations for the future of peer support
- 2-Day Peer Leadership Forum for current and emerging leaders to learn about policy, legislative change, grassroots organizing and to develop a shared statewide agenda for peer support
- Training of trainers for forensic peer support (end of 2020)
- Peer support and supervisor CEU's
- Specialty credential of NCCPSS in Integrated Settings
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