SB 906: Improving Mental Health and Addiction Support through Certified Peer Providers People struggling with addiction and mental health disorders may soon have a new important source of support and counseling from certified peer providers who have real-life experience from forging their own paths to recovery. Senate Bill 906, introduced by Senator Jim Beall, D-San Jose, approved by a 39-0 concurrence vote in the Senate, now moves to the Governor’s office for consideration. “No one can speak with greater truth and understanding to someone who is grappling with mental illness or an addiction than a person who has actually fought that battle,” Beall said. “To people in this distress, a qualified peer provider embodies the hope and proof that they are not alone in their fight in a way that no one else can. Clients listen because they know the providers can talk the talk because they’ve walked the walk.”
“Programs in most states, along with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, show peer providers have a profound effect because of their unique shared experience. It’s time for California to use this untapped source of experience to help others.” SB 906 calls for the state to establish certification standards for peer support specialists, who share lived experiences, neighborhoods, language and culture of the people they serve. Peers can be family members or caretakers of individuals living with mental illness. “The state certification of qualified peer providers will increase the number of mental health peer counselors who will help connect more Californians to the mental health services they need in real time,” Beall said. The need for counseling cuts across all ages. Data compiled by the UCLA Center for
Health Policy Research show 75 percent of California adults with mental health needs do not receive the treatment they require. Of California children aged 4 to 11 with mental health needs, only 25 percent get mental health care. The federal government has urged states to adopt certification
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programs to standardize best practices. Medicaid reimburses 50 percent of cost of peer services in states with such programs, reducing costs on county providers. All but two states, California and South Dakota, have implemented peer certification programs with clear standards for peer training. SB 906 also has
drawn support from the California Association of Local Behavioral Health Boards and Commissions, the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, the California Coalition for Mental Health, the Association of Community Human Service Agencies, and many other organizations.