Marshall University has been awarded a $132,500 grant from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Bureau of Behavioral Health (WV DHHR BBH) to develop a Peer Workforce Training Hub. The BBH seeks to expand the workforce capacity of those trained and/or seeking training and/or employed or seeking employment as a Peer Recovery Support Specialist (PRSS) in West Virginia.
Dave Sanders, Health and Human Resource Specialist Senior with the WV DHHR BBH, says it is important to provide a single point for peer recovery support specialists to go to for continuing education.
“The Peer [Workforce] Training Hub will be a single access point for Peer Recovery Support Specialist (PRSS) to locate and participate in continuing education opportunities, find recovery resources, learn about the PRSS credential and network with one another,” Sanders said.
The West Virginia peer hub will help support the peer workforce to access training schedules of training providers, facilitate training requests in local communities, and access technical assistance and other resources related to the peer workforce such as credentialing information and other related workforce topics.
The Peer Workforce Training Hub recently collaborated with WV DHHR BBH and West Virginia Office of Drug Control Policy and the West Virginia Collegiate Recovery Network to offer a McShin Foundation Training of Trainers for peer recovery coaches. More than twenty individuals from around the state applied and were selected for the training. They are now working to offer those trainings to peers in their local community.
Carrie Cunningham is the project coordinator of the West Virginia Peer [Workforce] Training Hub.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to develop and distribute these trainings and to have on demand access to multiple trainings for Peer Recovery Support Specialists and those seeking to become certified in the State of West Virginia,” Cunningham said. “The trainings will help prepare those who desire to take the state certification test and strengthen the peer support community.”
For more information visit www.wvbhtraining.org/peerhub/.