This technical assistance package provides information, resources, and tips to help newly hired peer specialists understand their roles and responsibilities, navigate the workplace, and support recovery during employment.
This document is a technical assistance (TA) package that provides tools and resources for newly hired peer specialists. It includes suggestions for clarifying the role, expectations, and responsibilities of peer specialists; information about employee rights and protections; stories from peer specialists about their onboarding and first weeks on the job; and tips for the first 90 days on the job as a peer specialist. The document lays out strategies for success in a new peer recovery support services position. It provides the following tables: specialized topics, which describes the core responsibilities of peer specialists alongside corresponding key competencies; what peer specialist roles do and do not do; supervision framework, with administrative, educative, and supportive frameworks; resilience and self-care strategies, providing cognitive, psychological, and behavioral strategies; and a checklist for the first 30, 60, and 90 days on the job. The goal of this technical assistance package is to help newly hired peer recovery specialists during their onboarding process to avoid common pitfalls and more quickly overcome workplace challenges. IT also provides a listing of resources and references.