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The first study examines the integration of Peer Recovery Support Specialists into child welfare systems in Texas. Using Community-Based Participatory Research, the study combined an environmental scan of 96 SUD treatment and recovery service providers with qualitative interviews with 20 certified peer support specialists working with child welfare-involved families. Findings reveal geographic disparities in service availability, significant gaps in child welfare-specific training, and role ambiguity that creates tension between relational support and compliance demands. Peer specialists described their work as "walking alongside" families, yet systemic barriers constrain that relational foundation.
The second study draws on the 2024-2025 Pacific Southwest Addiction Technology Transfer Center Regional Needs Assessment, a cross-sectional survey of 451 behavioral health professionals across U.S. Health & Human Services Region 9. Peer support specialists represented a meaningfully distinct subgroup: typically unlicensed, community-based, and facing structural barriers to training access including time and funding constraints disproportionate to those reported by licensed providers. Findings point to critical gaps in Training & Technical Assistance (TTA) infrastructure responsiveness to the full workforce continuum, from peer support through advanced clinical practice.
The third study examines expert recommendations for peer practice within abstinence-oriented systems using a national real-time Delphi panel of 72 experts, including certified peers, supervisors, service recipients, and researchers. The study explored whether peers should provide harm reduction education across three contexts: abstinence-only programs, court-mandated abstinence, and client-directed abstinence goals. Most experts emphasized nuance, with pragmatism, ethics, client self-determination, and institutional compliance emerging as organizing themes. Results highlight the need for training and supervision frameworks that reconcile evidence-based peer practice with abstinence-oriented system constraints, including clear policies, quality supervision, and labor protections for peer workers.
Together, these studies highlight the multiple levels at which peer recovery support workforce development remains unfinished work. Across system integration, regional TTA infrastructure, and the tensions between evidence-based peer practice and abstinence-oriented policy, the findings collectively demonstrate that supporting peer specialists requires organizational conditions, policy coherence, and research methodologies that take the full workforce continuum seriously. The symposium advances social work inquiry oriented toward equity, democratic participation, and the rigorous pursuit of the common good.