How Carelon Behavioral Health’s unique peer support program improves outcomes for youth and families in need

Peer support workers are individuals with lived experience recovering from mental health conditions or substance use disorders, who provide support, education, hope, and advocacy to others experiencing similar challenges.¹

Peers work as part of a team including clinical providers, informal and formal supports, schools, and other child-serving agencies. They help individuals stay focused on their recovery journeys and identify supports within their family or community of choice.

Carelon Behavioral Health’s peer support program

Carelon Behavioral Health's Systems of Care program is a type of wraparound service model that works with families to keep a child in their home. The model provides supports such as behavioral modification help for parents, access to mobile crisis services for behavioral intervention, help with tutoring, and child care.

One of the services that Carelon's Systems of Care offers youth and families is Certified Peer Support. Youth and family peers provide a strength-based approach that individuals find accessible and affirming.

Youth peer support specialists

Youth peer support specialists, typically aged 18 through 30, are individuals who have faced mental health challenges or substance use disorders. They offer young people developmentally appropriate opportunities to learn coping skills and connect to resources.

Youth peers also help young people learn help-seeking behavior, model recovery and resiliency skills, and serve as a source of support.

Family peer support specialists

Family peer support specialists are parents or primary caregivers who have raised a child with mental, behavioral health or substance use challenges. They also have experience receiving services on behalf of a child in their care.

Family peers focus on supporting parents or primary caregivers of youth up to age 21; and youth who are experiencing social, emotional, developmental, or behavioral challenges in their home, school, or community.

How Carelon peers provide support

Carelon peers may work with individuals once or twice, or two to three times weekly, depending on the individual’s needs.

Peers address a variety of challenges and barriers that individuals are facing. Jean Olshefsky, Program Consultant, Certified Peer MH/SU, Carelon Behavioral Health, explains: “Youth- and family-certified peers can jump-start a family or youth’s recovery path. The peer has experienced the same challenges and barriers and they can relate to them.”

Carelon peer requirements

Peers typically come from agencies and advocacy organizations, preferably certified at the time of hire. If specialists are not already certified upon their start date, Carelon expects that specialists will become certified within one year of hire.

Youth specialists range from 18 to 30 years of age in states in which it is mandatory. In other states, the age range is 18 and over.

SAMHSA standards

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has also collaborated with federal and state entities as well as peers and peer supervisors to develop the National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification, which includes peer certifications for substance use, mental health, and family support. The standards align closely with the national mental health strategy.²

The standards that peer supporters need to meet to become certified include lived experience, training, formal education, work experience and passing background checks.³

Carelon certification

Carelon Behavioral Health plans to take the certification process a step further. “While young adults and families will provide peer support, our program will also offer family specialists, which is new to Carelon Behavioral Health,” says Clarence Jordan, Clinical Programs Director, Carelon Behavioral Health. “Within the last few years, we’ve begun to see certifications for youth and family specialists. Many peers are unable to secure the necessary supervised hours they need to become certified. We help those individuals obtain the hours they still need.”

How the Carelon peer support program stands apart

The Carelon program is unique in that the peer support initiative is part of the company’s internal care management model. The program also uses a better compensation structure when compared with that of other providers.

“Carelon Behavioral Health is one of a few payers that employs peers and compensates them with a living wage,” says Dr. Linda Henderson-Smith, Senior Product Management Director, Carelon Behavioral Health. “We went through an internal compensation review process that ensures Carelon peers will have a career path and support. We established a quality framework to assess these factors.”

Mr. Jordan points out that many peers in historical settings have a second or third job to make ends meet. “Our peer services are more efficient because our specialists can put forth more energy and time into helping others. These factors reduce turnover, in turn enhancing the services the individual receives.”

Making a difference

Research indicates that peer support decreases costs to the mental health system. Additionally, peer support has a positive impact on individuals, improving their relationships with treatment providers, treatment retention, access to social supports, reduced recidivism, reduced substance use, and greater housing stability.⁴

“Our Carelon-certified peers offer hope and the ability to walk alongside our members on their recovery path,” explains Ms. Olshefsky. “Peers are advocates with the closest connection to the barriers and challenges our members are experiencing.”