RI Internatinal Peer Emplyment Training In Peer Supprt, mind and heart matter. Since 2000, we have successfully recruited and trained Peer Supprt Specialists at RI Internatinal (frmerly Recvery Innvatins) - and all f what we ve learned ver the years is reflected in ur Peer Emplyment Training Prgram. Our prgram is successful because it engages bth the mind and the heart and that is hw we wuld like t share ur stry with yu. Sme Facts and Figures Thughts frm graduates RI Internatinal has ne f the largest peer wrkfrces in the wrld with 63% f its wrkfrce r 1000+ individuals, emplyed as Peer Supprt Specialists wrking in dedicated peer supprt rles, leadership rles and executive rles in clinics, respite, hspital transitin, cmmunity-based, husing, educatin, emplyment and ther service prgrams. PET graduates have lng-term career success. 76% f graduates n average btain emplyment as Peer Supprt Specialists. In ne prgram in Califrnia, peer supprters trained by RI have btained wrk at a rate f 100%. Additinally, with the supprt f RI, they have als achieved lngevity f mre than 14 mnths (when the prgram ended). Studies f trainees in the State f Arizna are cnsistently emplyed at a rate f 76% r mre. In states like Pennsylvania, the hire rate is ver 80%. Thrugh the cntract with the Veteran s Administratin f the United States, trainees are emplyed at 100% and als retain wrk ver 90% f the time. 89% jb retentin acrss all Peer Emplyment Trainings fr a minimum f 12 mnths. 60% mve t full time emplyment within 12 mnths. I learned mre abut hw t strengthen my wn recvery s that I culd be there fr anther. I learned the necessary skills listening, validating, reflecting, cnflict reslutin and sharing these tls with ther. Ted This learning experience was exciting, challenging, uplifting, encuraging, mtivating and psitive. Sally It was a very psitive experience in every way. It gave me real wrld knwledge and skills that I ll be using in my jb, and that I ve already started t use in my peer relatinships. Tm 14% r mre have mved int supervisry and leadership psitins (AZ and CA). Peer Emplyment Training Overview 2008, 2010, 2015, 2017 Page 1
Over 8,500+ peple have graduated wrldwide frm ur Peer Emplyment Training since August 2000. In the US and New Zealand, Singapre, Puert Ric, Sctland and England individuals have graduated ur training. Twenty ne states including Arizna, Pennsylvania, Minnesta, Luisiana, Nrth Carlina, Delaware, as well as the Veterans Administratin f the United States have adpted the RI Internatinal Peer Emplyment Training as a certificatin prgram fr Peer Supprt Specialists. In England, Peer Emplyment Training is part f the Recvery Cllege curriculum. RI s Peer Emplyment Training (PET) will be required cursewrk at Alliant Internatinal University fr all bachelr, master, and medical dctr training. This shuld begin Fall, 2018. Currently, PET is ffered fr three units f credit, fr certificate learners and bachelr level learners at Alliant. RI Backgrund and Histry. Truth be tld, the heart f all we d at RI Internatinal lives in the Peer Emplyment Training Prgram. Within the curriculum and its delivery - are all the tls needed t supprt peple n their path t recvery and emplyment. But, as we all knw, training can prvide tls, but nt necessarily inspire actin. This is where PET shines. PET graduates take with them, hpe, an intense belief in the reality f recvery and resilience, and mre imprtantly, the inspiratin t d peer supprt wrk. PET inspires students because it cmmunicates the visin that Lisa St Gerge and thers put int practice when they develped the prgram in the year 2000. At the first stage f develpment, Anne Rider and Lisa St Gerge, utilized an Advisry Bard f the recvery pineers including Mary Ellen Cpeland, Shery Mead, Pat Deegan, and Bill Anthny. They prvided supprt and feedback as we built ur training. The first class graduated in Octber 2000, and the cntent has been revised using the infrmatin learned frm the students, clleagues, and systems t enrich and braden the training. Since then, each revisin and new editin (currently in its 5 th editin) f the materials has refined the curriculum s it reflects what we understand and bserve that peer supprt specialists need knw. In essence, the prgram reflects everything we ve learned frm ur wn peer supprt specialists and their wrk with thers in RI's diverse service prgrams. PET: Structure and Cntent. The PET curriculum is highly interactive, skill based, and incrprates adult learning principles. It includes a cpyrighted text, Peer Emplyment Training: A Peer/Recvery Supprt Specialist Certificatin Curse (PET) 5 th editin, 2015. In additin t the text, the curriculum includes a bk. The Exercise Bk cntains skill based exercises, and rle plays designed t ensure that participants take away bth knwledge and hands-n skills. The prgram cnsists f 16 mdules that are delivered as an 76-hur tw-week intensive. The curriculum includes tests that establish cmpetency in the required knwledge and skills. An 80% scre is required fr all curse wrk and a cmprehensive final exam. Participants are further evaluated n acquired skills thrugh rle-plays, Peer Emplyment Training Overview 2008, 2010, 2015, 2017 Page 2
interactin in the class, attendance n required days, and verall attendance that includes nt missing mre than 8 hurs f class. Curriculum cntent includes: Part I: Persnal Develpment: Knwing Yurself Recvery The Pwer f Peer Supprt Develping Self-Esteem and Managing Self Talk Cmmunity, Culture, and Envirnment Meaning and Purpse Emtinal Intelligence Part II: Turning Pint: Preparing Yurself fr Wrk Telling Yur Persnal Stry Emplyment as a Path t Recvery Part III: Skill Develpment Cmmunicatin Skills Cnflict Reslutin Understanding Trauma and Develping Resilience Substance Use and C-ccurring Recvery Being with Peple in Challenging Situatins Peer Supprt in Actin: Partnering with Other Prfessinals I feel mre sure f myself and my ability t wrk with thers withut trying t fix peple but helping them t figure things ut fr themselves. The greatest grwth I see is preparing me fr reentry t wrk. And, learning t talk with thers in a relatinal way. At RI Internatinal, we have knwn fr a lng time that transfrmatin ccurs in each PET class. It is that transfrmatin that is hardest t describe and cmmunicate. It s the change that takes place in the students and smetimes in the facilitatr as they learn mre abut themselves and each ther. Thrugh their interactins, participants experience a deeper awareness f their wn and thers strengths and resilience. As students explre meaning and purpse, the dream f having meaningful wrk becmes a real pssibility. And as students practice skills in helping and supprting thers, the seed f transfrmatin frm patient t helper is planted. Prgram Evaluatin Studies cnducted by Bstn University cntinue t guide the develpment f ur Peer Emplyment Training. Peer Emplyment Training Overview 2008, 2010, 2015, 2017 Page 3
The first study, published in 2006, was ne f the nly evaluatins t test a structured and frmal peer supprt training prgram. The purpse f this study was t determine the persnal and vcatinal impact f a peer supprt training interventin n individuals with serius psychiatric disabilities. 1 Methds: Sixty-six individuals participated in an evaluatin f the prgram. Participants were assessed prir t and after the training n measures f recvery, empwerment, and self-cncept. Jb acquisitin and retentin data were als examined at psttest. Results: The standardized peer supprt training prgram was successful in increasing participants knwledge and attitudes tward recvery and their sense f empwerment. Gains were als bserved in the measure f persnal self-wrth. These data suggest that peers experience psitive changes n these subjective psychlgical measures after participating in peer prvider training. Trainees went n t btain peer prvider psitins within the agency in which they received training and 89% f thse trained retained emplyment at 12 mnths. Cnclusins: Findings suggest that a standardized prgram designed t prvide peer training was used successfully and participants recvery and emplyability were imprved. In a frmal Review f Peer Supprt Specialist curriculum cnducted by Hutchinsn and Rgers at the Center fr Psychiatric Rehabilitatin at Bstn University, (Unpublished reprt, July 2007), the fllwing impressins and bservatins were made: extremely cmprehensive wrkbk achieves its purpse in prviding inspiratin, understanding and awareness abut recvery and the rle that peer supprt can play in that prcess. It presents a wnderful blend f perspectives within the recvery framewrk: theretical, persnal/lived experiences and behaviral appraches. In Prgram Evaluatin Results Peer Emplyment Training (Unpublished Reprt, Octber 2007), senir staff at the Center fr Psychiatric Rehabilitatin at Bstn University prvided supprt in the develpment f a pre and pst training test f peer supprt cmpetencies. After careful develpment and review, the test was administered befre and after training t 15 trainees in the summer f 2007. Tests were sent t the Center fr data entry and analysis. Results indicated there was a highly significant gain in crrect answers f all items in the test frm pre t pst test, suggesting that the trainees mastered the material in the training t a high degree. 1 Frm Hutchinsn, D., Anthny, W., et. Al. The Persnal and Vcatinal Impact f Training and Emplying Peple with Psychiatric Disabilities as Prviders, Psychiatric Rehabilitatin Jurnal, Winter 2006, Vlume 29, Number 3. Peer Emplyment Training Overview 2008, 2010, 2015, 2017 Page 4
What Happens in the Classrm? PET students learn a way f being; as well as a way f partnering with peple, that requires they becme increasingly cmfrtable with themselves (being authentic), and als cultivate skills in cmmunicating and cnnecting with thers. The pre and pst testing tells us that students master the infrmatin. What the paper and pencil tests can t capture is the depth f skills participants develp as they practice in the classrm. Rather than fllwing a rutine lecture frmat, the instructrs use a facilitative apprach that is based n adult learning principles. The classrm is learning centered and builds peer supprt cmpetencies frm simple t cmplex. Fr example, Frm the start, students begin t apply skills in recvery language in the Intrductin; In Mdule 1 they learn what empwering interactins are, and use them in rle play. In Mdule 2, the students are actually perfrming a basic peer supprt interactin by using a rle play. First, the instructr mdels the skills fr the class, and then each student uses thse mdeled skills with a partner. By Mdule 10, after many classrm and written exercises, tests and ther rle-plays the students bring the skills tgether and perfrm the peer supprt apprach in a rle play fr evaluatin befre the class. It is this rle-play that becmes part f their scre n their Final Exam. All f the materials have been develped, refined and are cntained in the manual and exercise bk the cmpanin vlumes fr the Peer Emplyment Training 5 th Editin. Peer Emplyment Training Overview 2008, 2010, 2015, 2017 Page 5