Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
July 27, 2007, Vol. 07-114

Experts Convene for a Forensic Peer Specialist Workgroup Meeting A National Response

On June 1, 2007, the CMHS National GAINS Center for Systemic Change for Justice-Involved Persons with Mental Illness convened 30 experts to focus on bringing together the state of knowledge about Forensic Peer Specialist work, so that the GAINS Center can network and stimulate change around this rapidly emerging catalyst at the intersections of mental health and criminal justice.

This one-day meeting reflected the collaboration among the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), Howie T. Harp Peer Advocacy Center, forensic peer specialists, mental health treatment providers, criminal justice professionals, and consumer organizations to systematically examine:

• Defining a Forensic Peer Specialist;
• Learnings from the experience (forensic peer specialists talking about their experiences in the field and workforce);
• Plan to train and support forensic peer specialists;
• Effectively link forensic peer specialists to CMHS's workforce development activities and;
• Develop essential elements of being a forensic peer specialist (Defining, Finding, Funding, Training, and Supporting Forensic Peer Specialists).

Forensic Peer Specialists are an untapped and valuable workforce that can assist programs in achieving positive outcomes. LaVerne Miller, Director of the Howie T. Harp Peer Advocacy Center, outlined strategies below that are designed to identify and overcome obstacles to the successful employment and retention of Forensic Peer Specialists.

Strategies for Promoting the Successful Hiring of Forensic Peer Specialists

Agencies committed to hiring Forensic Peer Specialists must be proactive in their approach to identifying and overcoming legal and institutional obstacles that they may confront in their efforts to hire staff who have had been convicted of serious offenses. In some instances, the individual may be under some type of community supervision at the time that they are being considered for employment. Although, many of these obstacles are formidable, they can be overcome with planning, advocacy, and collaboration with other stakeholders, including, local and state mental health offices, the courts, and parole and probation.

As a matter of agency policy and practice, an agency should designate a staff member to become the "resident" expert on local and state laws that may have an impact on the employer's ability to hire staff with criminal justice histories. This designated staff member should also develop working relationships with the local or state office responsible for conducting background checks. Many localities and states require background checks for prospective human services staff and, as a general rule, do not provide exceptions for the agency hiring a staff person with a criminal justice background.

Agencies should review internal Human Resources policies to identify potential conflicts between the desire to recruit and hire Forensic Peer Specialists and policies that may pose obstacles to these outcomes. Agencies can develop human resource policies that can help facilitate hiring and retaining Forensic Peer Specialists, and then do not conflict with the agencies overall goal to provide a safe and secure work environment for all employees. It should be noted here that anecdotal evidence suggests that Forensic Peer Specialists are not more likely than other staff to violate agency policies or engage in criminal activity during the course of employment.

Human Resource staff and managers should collaborate in developing policies that:

• Increase identification and recruitment of qualified peer staff;
• Describe the essential job functions and qualifications for the position, (Including criminal justice history);
• Develop orientation for new staff;
• Promote the integration of forensic peer specialist staff into the programs and teams.

Some potential candidates may still be on parole, probation, or other types of community supervision. This should not prevent employers from hiring the candidate. Sometimes the conditions of probation or parole may have express limitations on the type of work a person is permitted to do. Human Resources staff and hiring managers need to ask applicants about these restrictions so that they are able to make informed hiring decisions.

For more information, please contact Noel Thomas at the National GAINS Center at 518.439.7415, ext. 280, or by e-mail at gains@prainc.com.

For more information about the Howie T. Harp Peer Advocacy Center, please contact LaVerne Miller, Esq., Director, Howie T. Harp Peer Advocacy Center at 212.865.0775.

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The Center for Mental Health Services is a component of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, United States Department of Health and Human Services.