Peer Recovery Support Specialists use their own experiences to assist people struggling with issues they’ve overcome. Often, their clients have recently been released from inpatient substance use rehab or mental health care facilities. They also may be participating in an extensive outpatient treatment program. By completing the duties established in a Peer Recovery Support Specialist job description, they encourage clients to continue with their recovery plans, supporting outcomes and client satisfaction. Peer Recovery Support Specialists connect clients with community resources and provide ongoing support.
• Advocating for clients in recovery from substance-use disorder or co-occurring disorders
• Identifying resources and community assets to assist clients to develop skills needed while building community relations
• Mentoring clients, modeling recovery behavior, and assisting clients is setting goals (such as employment, sobriety, and education)
• Crisis Intervention
• Providing recovery education to individuals for every phase of their recovery
journey, from pre-contemplation engagement, recovery initiation, recovery
stabilization, and sustained recovery maintenance
• Identifying barriers and developing strategies for self-directed success
• Manage caseload of up to 15 clients
• Respond on a 24/7/365 basis to clients on caseload who are experiencing a
crisis with support or referral to a clinical team
• Support supervision, office staff, and clinical team in updating client notes
• Attending supervision and monthly staff meetings, as required
• Maintaining certification by accumulation of continuing education credits
• Strong interpersonal skills to interact positively with clients and members of the treatment team
• Observational skills to interpret demeanor and spot signs of distress or crisis
• Active listening skills to engage in productive conversations and lead effective group sessions
• Organizational skills to maintain complete, accurate records for multiple clients
• Problem-solving skills to help clients overcome obstacles to their continued
recovery
• Writing skills to produce clear, concise recovery reports
• Computer skills to utilize email, word processing and records-management
software
• Basic understanding of best practices for substance-use and mental health
counseling
• Current OhioMHAS (Ohio Department of Behavioral Health) Peer Recovery
Supporter Certification
• Valid State Driver’s License and Proof of Current Car Insurance
• Reliable Transportation
• Willingness to travel within the county (and surrounding areas)
In the State of Ohio, to be eligible to be certified as a PRS, you must have a direct lived
experience of mental health and/or substance use issues. “Direct lived experience”
means that you are personally in recovery from a mental health and/or substance use
issue (having a friend or family member in recovery does not qualify you for PRS
certification).
Peer Recovery Supporter Certification from the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health
Additional requirements to certification, per Ohio Department of Behavioral Health:
● Have a high school diploma or GED (there is no waiver or exception to this
requirement)
● Complete a certification application in eLicense.
● Complete eBased Academy Certified Peer Recovery Supporter Learning Plan.
● Pass the online Ohio Peer Recovery Supporter Certification Exam with a score of
70% or higher.
● Complete a Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI) background check and a
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal records check within one year of
application submission.
● Have no record of a disqualifying offense.
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