Peer Support - with Crystal Lilly and Cameron Wood

Episode Transcript

Keith Casebonne:  Hello again. Thank you for joining us for our 10th episode of "You First," brought to you by Disability Rights Florida. I'm Keith Casebonne, and thanks for joining me today.

The purpose of You First is to discuss the rights of individuals with disabilities, putting your rights first.

Before I start the interview, I want to let you know about an opportunity to share your opinions with Disability Rights Florida. We depend on you to tell us what disability issues are most important to you.

This is the time of year when we request your input to help us plan for our next fiscal year. We would also like your input on what you would like us to accomplish over the next five years.

To do that, we have put together a short survey that we would like all of our listeners to complete. You can access that survey on the Web at disabilityrightsflorida.org/survey.

Please share that link with everyone you know, so we can get some great information and create goals and priorities that coincide with your input. We need your comments by July 21st, 2017. One more time, that website is disabilityrightsflorida.org/survey.

About three months ago, we did a You First podcast, episode seven, called, "The Right to Recovery." Our guest on that episode spoke to us about recovery‑oriented systems of care, which is a modern approach to treatment and recovery from mental illnesses and substance abuse.

You can think of today's episode as part two, as this topic is an extension of that.

Peer support programs are natural extensions of recovery‑oriented systems of care and can be used to guide individuals toward recovery in ways that are unique and more effective when compared to conventional systems.

To tell us much more about peer support and peer specialists are today's guests, Cameron Wood, Executive Director of the Peer Support Coalition of Florida, and Crystal Lilly, Director of Education and Training at Federation of Families of Central Florida.

Hey Cameron and Crystal, thank you so much for joining us today.

Cameron Wood:  Thank you so much for having us today, Keith.

Crystal Lilly:  Thank you.

Keith:  Crystal, we'll start with you. Tell us about your role at Federation of Families.

Crystal:  Thank you, Keith. I facilitate training to peers, youth, and community members, and I coordinate trainings as well with other facilitators on topics that families identify as a need, such as current drug trends, or social media trends.

I also work with Wraparound Orange to facilitate Youth WRAP with youth ages 16 to 21 and supervise the youth partners that are working within the Wraparound process in Orange County.

Keith:  Cameron, tell us about the Peer Support Coalition of Florida. What's its mission?

Cameron:  I would love to, Keith. The Peer Support Coalition of Florida is the statewide peer network of Florida. What does that exactly mean? We are a network of people who use our own experiences with mental health and substance use to support others.

We're a network of people who use peer support to inspire hope that recovery from a mental health and/or substance use challenge is possible and expected.

The role of peer support is the mutual support given and received from each person, and that's why we exist.

We exist to support those who do the work of peer support by providing education and training about peer support and wellness and recovery, assist in the creation of peer support networking groups, and advocating for the needs of people who provide peer support.

Although most of our members are certified recovery peer specialists, we welcome all that are in recovery of a mental health and/or substance use experience, those that support and believe in the concepts of peer support and recovery, and those who have an interest in recovery and want to learn more about and support the work that we do.

Our mission at the end of the day is to empower our peers to lead.

Keith:  When you say empowering peers to lead, that's a very powerful‑sounding statement. I love how it sounds. What exactly do you mean by that?

Cameron:  When we say empowering peers to lead, we mean that we see a future where our peers have advanced the peer workforce, have successfully assisted in the integration of peer and recovery‑oriented services, and collaborated for social and system transformation.

At the end of the day, continue to support the efforts that they've made.

We hope that the resources we provide and connect our peers to will encourage them to grow and lead across the state, give them a voice to advocate for change and acceptance.

We are the living proof that recovery is possible, and as leaders, we will work together and support each other to eliminate stigma, and continue to promote the benefits and importance of this experience in the recovery process.

Crystal:  I can give a few examples of exactly what that means as well, Keith. I've been working as a peer since 2012, shortly after the System of Care Grant in Seminole County.

My first client ‑‑ because I'm a peer for family members ‑‑ was a grandmother raising her grandchild. She had two grandchildren, a grandson and a granddaughter. She was very overwhelmed because he didn't fit in a box that they had set out where you can get these services, or these services. He was very unique in his challenges.

She was very frustrated. She was not pleasant to be around. Her favorite phrase was "You're not doing your job."

That's how she felt because she felt like she had been disappointed and let down by all the services so far that had not work. No one was really talking to her about what she needed.

I would just answer the phone when she called. She would vent, she would complain. I wouldn't say anything, I would just listen to her.

When she was done, I would tell her how strong she was, how far she's come. She would thank me, and we would get off the phone.

We also had meetings together where we would prepare for other meetings that she was going to, to get an agenda going, to talk about keeping her emotions out of the conversation, because that would prevent her from really getting anywhere with what she was trying to get for her grandson.

I was meeting with her very frequently, and it was a lot of emotions going on, on both sides, the child welfare system and her. Eventually, she started really advocating for herself. She was calling me less. She was meeting with the providers on her own.

In 2016, she called me to thank me because she felt like she really was getting where she needed to be for her family.

She didn't feel that she would have been able to do that without Federation of Families offering her that support and guidance and coaching that she received to get the services that she needed for her grandson.

It's also about meeting them where they are. There was another family member just a few weeks ago, she just called, referred by 211. She was just very stressed out over her son Also, she had lost her job, and she wanted to start her own business as a professional organizer.

She came in for two hours. We sat and got to know each other, but we also made a flyer, so she could start advertising her new business, because that's what she needed at that time.

Keith:  Tell me a little bit about how someone can become a certified recovery peer specialist. What's the process? What are the requirements?

Cameron:  The process starts with going to the Florida Certification Board website and going under Available Certifications where they will find the certified recovery peer specialist designation.

There are three different types of designations. There are actually four now. There's one for adults, there's one for family, there's a veteran designation, and now, a newly‑announced youth designation.

They will go ahead and start with that application process. When an individual starts that application, they have one year to finish and complete and submit all required documents with their application.

Along with the application, they will need to have a minimum of 500 experience hours providing peer support.

They will need recommendation letters from a supervisor, as well as a professional recommendation.

They will also need to make sure that they have 40 hours of training under their belt in specific domains ‑‑ advocacy, mentor, and professional responsibility, and electives.

We're going to be soon introducing an additional 20 hours of enhanced training. They're receiving all types of training, not just that 40 hours Helping Others Heal training.

We're making sure that they have an education in crisis, de‑escalation, conflict resolution. We want to make sure that peers are feeling as most prepared as possible for their positions.

Again, that first place to start is going to that Florida Certification Board website, reading up on that candidate guide that they have that explains the entire process.

That's what we are here for. We want to make sure that we provide that technical assistance for any questions peers may have in that process.

It can be quite the process itself. We are the experts on that, and we want to make sure that we're here to answer all your questions in that process.

Please feel free to visit our website at peersupportfl.org where you can find more information about the process through the Florida Certification Board.

Keith:  Excellent. Anything new going on we should know about?

Crystal:  Yes, I'll start with Federation of Families. We have two trainings coming up. In June, from 26th to the 28th, the Certified Recovery Peer Specialist and the Family destination, we will have that going on in Fern Park.

That flyer can be found on the Peer Support Coalition website as well.

We also have a two‑day, WRAP workshop on June 12th and 13th in Fern Park as well. That flyer as well can be seen on the Peer Support Coalition's website.

Our Youth WRAP, the eight‑week session that we do with the youth ages 16 to 21, we're constantly having those groups. Those flyers will be listed as they come up, so we're constantly having those coming and going.

We also have monthly meetings for our family members where they can come together and support each other.

Those are in both Orange County and Seminole County. That can be found on the Federation of Families of Central Florida's website, or Facebook.

Cameron:  On behalf of the Coalition, we'd love to announce that there is an opportunity to participate in a WRAP facilitator training, the five‑day seminar, in Orlando, June 19th through June 23rd. The application can be found on our website under the Training Calendar.

We also just announced this week that we will be hosting a Peer Support Whole Health and Resilience Training in Miami, on August 28th and 29th, and a second one in Orlando, on August 30th and August 31st.

Those applications and more information about those trainings can be found on our website as well.

I'm very excited to announce that we were at the peer conference last week, and I had a peer specialist approach me about announcing their first Northeast Florida Peer Support Network.

We would love to give the opportunity for those in the northeast region to really go up there and see this first meeting, what it's all about. What we're really trying to support or create is helping these peer support networks build across the state.

I'm very excited that the northeast region has their first meeting on June 7th, 2017, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM, at the Mayfair Village Clubhouse.

We will be making that announcement this week on our website, so be on the lookout for more information about your opportunity to participate in the Northeast Florida Peer Support Network.

Additionally, we're working also now in Central Florida with the Mental Health Association of Central Florida to revitalize a peer support network that they already had in Orlando, but was not given as much support.

We're trying to bring in partners from all across the Central Florida region to really start building this peer support network in Central Florida. We want to provide that opportunity and support other peer support networks across the state.

Additionally, I want to mention also that the Coalition is now part of a peer support work group with the state. We're working to implement better suicide prevention initiatives for the veteran population.

I'm very excited to be part of this opportunity, as we want to be inclusive of all designations. It's just a great opportunity for us to tap into that veteran population, supporting them as well.

I'm very excited to be able to include all designations, and that is what we are truly here for at the end of the day, to support all our peers. That's what we have going on right now across the state, a lot of stuff. I'm very excited.

Keith:  You definitely have a very active calendar coming up there. How can the community support the Coalition?

I want to also add to that. In parts of the state where there aren't more peer support or training resources, how can people in the community in those parts of the state get more information and, maybe, become a part of this?

Cameron:  There's several ways that the community can support the Coalition. The community can support the Coalition either by joining our cause today.

Do you believe in recovery and the work of peer support? Are you interested in learning about recovery?

Then join us as a member today and help us continue to empower peers to lead and continue the advancement of the peer workforce, integration of peer and recovery‑oriented services in collaboration for social and system transformation.

We also ask if you have any resources related to peer support and recovery‑oriented services, please send them our way. We want to make sure that we have all these resources connected to all our peers and available.

If you have any resources, please help us out and build our website. I've been providing that for our peers.

Also, if you would like to become a board member, we are always recruiting board members.

It's part of our strategy to make sure we have representation from every region. Where there is a lack, we have representation to be able to go out in those regions and start educating, and bring awareness to what we're doing in peer support.

Also, we are working to get a PayPal donation button on our website. Once we have that up and running, as a nonprofit, we always appreciate donation to continue to support the work that we're able to do.

Those are the ways the community can support us. We ask that you come and join us today. We would be happy to see what you can accomplish with us.

Keith:  Excellent. Just a reminder, that the website for the Peer Support Coalition is peersupportfl.org. Crystal, what the address for Federation of Families of Central Florida?

Crystal:  Ffcflinc.org.

Keith:  Crystal and Cameron, thank you so much for joining us today and telling our listeners more about what's becoming a very active community, and lots of resources and information out there.

I encourage anyone that's interested to look into this more and possibly becoming a peer specialist.

Cameron:  I just wanted to leave off on this note for inspiration. As an individual, you can make a difference. Together we can make a change, and that's what this is all about. Together with your help, we will make a difference and a change in this state.

Keith:  That's a wonderful closing statement. Thanks again to both of you.

Cameron:  Thank you so much, Keith, for your time today.

Crystal:  Thank you.

Keith:  Absolutely. Also, listeners, just a quick reminder to visit our site at disabilityrightsflorida.org/survey to share your input with us.

Crystal and Cameron, I hope you guys will do that as well. Please complete our survey.

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