Peer Recovery Support Specialist Certification

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

Peer Recovery Specialist (PRS) training is offered by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) to people in mental health or substance abuse recovery who are interested in becoming a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist. Once certified these individuals can begin to work with addicts and hopefully get them on the road to recovery. The Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office is the first and only jail in Virginia to offer the 72-hour course to still incarcerated individuals, specifically those who are actively recovering and participating in our Heroin Addiction Recovery (HARP) and Bridge Programs. While both of these program focus on substance abuse HARP focuses specifically on Heroin and Bridge on all substances. The PRS course is held in our jail and is offered to male and female inmates. The course includes 60 hours of classroom training and 12 hours of self-study assignments and 20 models covering a multitude of topics that address relationships, resiliency, behavioral health challenges, communication and more. Official certification requires each person to complete 500 hours of volunteer or paid facilitation. DBHDS requires 25 of the 500 hours to be supervised by previously certified personnel. In response to this, the Sheriff’s Office teamed up with a facility in the City of Richmond called Substance Abuse and Addiction Recovery Alliance (SAARA) to assist with supervision of facilitation hours. Inmates who have completed the PRS course are transported to the SAARA facility in plain clothes by a uniformed deputy. Inmates are allowed to wear plain clothes so they can participate in the groups without the stigma of being in a jail uniform.