The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Peer providers in California provide individualized support, coaching, facilitation, and education to clients with mental health care needs and substance use disorders in a variety of settings. Yet, no statewide scope of practice, standardized curriculum, training standards, supervision standards, or certification protocol is available.

(b) The United States Department of Veterans Affairs and at least 48 states utilize standardized curricula and certification protocols for peer support services.

(c) The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recognizes that the experiences of peer support specialists, as part of an evidence-based model of care, can be an important component in a state’s delivery of effective mental health and substance use disorder treatment. The CMS encourages states to offer comprehensive programs.

(d) A substantial number of research studies demonstrate that peer supports improve client functioning, increase client satisfaction, reduce family burden, alleviate depression and other symptoms, reduce homelessness, reduce hospitalizations and hospital days, increase client activation, and enhance client self-advocacy.

(e) Certification can increase the diversity and effectiveness of the behavioral health workforce through the use of peers with lived experience.

(Added by Stats. 2020, Ch. 150, Sec. 2. (SB 803) Effective January 1, 2021.)