The Peer Recovery Center of Excellence (PR CoE) has been funded since 2020 by the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration to provide training and technical assistance to the peer workforce, recovery community organizations, and other organizations in the ecosystem of recovery to support the implementation of peer recovery support services. The PR CoE is housed at the University of Missouri Kansas City as part of its Collaborative to Advance Health Services.
The PR CoE envisions a world where the peer workforce is diverse, understood, valued, trained, and integrated across systems. The four pillars that we seek to uphold through our work are social justice and equity, values rooted in recovery, peer leadership, and multiple pathways to recovery.
The PR CoE provides training and technical assistance to build and elevate an equitable peer workforce to deliver peer recovery support services. We accomplish this through supporting peer integration; Recovery Community Organization capacity building; peer workforce development; evidence based practice dissemination; and health equity.
The PR CoE divides its activities into five focus areas, each overseen by a partner. The first three focus areas prioritize training and technical assistance for three groups of constituents: the peer workforce, recovery community organizations, and other organizations in the ecosystem of recovery, such as substance use treatment organizations, healthcare facilities, and more. The other two focus areas promote the adoption of evidence-based practice and practice-based evidence around peer recovery support services and champion health equity in the provision and receipt of peer recovery support services and in the work of the PR CoE itself.
All of the PR CoE strives to make its resources and events available and accessible. We remain open to feedback on how we can continue to ensure the accessibility of our offerings. One way in which we do this is by maintaining an inventory of all recorded events. We also curate a resource library of documents, videos, podcasts, websites, and more – all centered around promoting peer recovery support services.
One of the main things that sets the PR CoE apart from other training and technical assistance centers is that it is led by a Steering Committee composed of individuals with lived experience in recovery. This Steering Committee sets strategic direction and priorities for the PR CoE, provides insight and guidance to ensure responsible allocation of funds, integrates the voice of peers and the larger recovery community, and works to encourage and expand access to PR CoE offerings to peers and the larger recovery community.
To connect with us, please visit our Contact Us page for more information.
Funding for this initiative was made possible by grant no. 1H79TI083022 from SAMHSA. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
