Each Peer Recovery Support Center (PRSC) is unique, reflecting the peers it serves and meeting the distinct needs of its community. Despite the uniqueness, there are commonalities in building and operating a PRSC. This page provides resources to help start and grow a PRSC as well as specific links for Massachusetts providers and the state’s data management and payment system. For questions, please reach out to your PRSC Technical Assistance Provider or contact Danielle O'Brien, Recovery Community Support Coordinator III at the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services.
Recovery and Recovery Support: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) defines recovery as “a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live self-directed lives and strive to reach their full potential” and the PRSC are spaces designed to foster that in community. SAMHSA provides a wealth of information regarding recovery and recovery support within the context of its guiding principles of recovery and the four dimensions of recovery.
Working Definition of Recovery: SAMHSA has developed and summarized a set of 10 guiding principles for recovery.
What is Recovery?: This is a great source for Recovery 101 information and resources from the Recovery Research Institute (RRI), a leading nonprofit research institute dedicated to advancing addiction treatment and recovery. Their Addictionary offers language to destigmatize recovery.
Multiple Pathways of Recovery: A Guide for Individuals and Families: This guide is designed to support individuals and families in or seeking recovery understand multiple recovery pathways.
Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care Resource (ROSC) Guide: SAMHSA’s 2010 ROSC Resource Guide moves the focus beyond symptom reduction to helping individuals achieve abstinence and build a stable, fulfilling life in their natural community environments.
Trauma-Informed, Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care Toolkit: Supported by the Indiana Family and Social Service Administration and developed by national experts, this Toolkit offers a range of tools for all aspects of planning, developing, and implementing a ROSC.
Recovery Management and ROSC: Scientific Rationale and Promising Practices: William White’s 2008 seminal work paved the way for a shift from a crisis-oriented, professionally directed, acute-care approach to a recovery management approach that provides a foundation for long-term supports and recognizes and promotes multiple pathways of recovery.
Peer Recovery Support Centers (PRSCs): Massachusetts’ PRSCs are free, accessible peer-led spaces that provide individuals in or seeking recovery from substance use, as well as their families and loved ones, the opportunity to offer and receive support in their communities.
Council on Accreditation of Peer Recovery Support Services (CAPRSS): CAPRSS is the only accrediting body in the US specifically for recovery community organizations (RCOs) and other programs offering addiction peer recovery support services (PRSS). Check out the CAPRSS Participatory Process Tip Sheet and the Ethical Framework for Service Delivery Tip Sheet.
National Standards for Recovery Community Organizations (RCOs): This Faces and Voices of Recovery document defines RCOs and provides best practices for governance, programs and activities, and diversity, equity, and inclusion, with a link to a recovery-friendly language guide.
Recovery Community Organization Toolkit - Building A Culture Of Recovery: A How-To Guide For Developing Local Recovery Capital: Developed by Friends of New York Recovery, this toolkit provides instructions for assessing community readiness, engaging the recovery community, and building, maintaining, and evaluating an RCO. It offers sample templates and checklists for building community, planning community meetings, and recruiting and maintaining members.
From the Ground Up: How to Build Your Own Peer-to-Peer Recovery Center: The Recover Project’s seminal manual on Community Voice and the Peer Participatory Process.
Recovery Café Network: The Recovery Café Network is committed to training and nurturing groups seeking to start recovery communities based on the Recovery Café model. Through a cohort learning model, Cafés are provided with mentorship, materials, expertise, and facilitated learning experiences to create a recovery community in their area.
Peer Support Toolkit: The City of Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services developed a toolkit to support behavioral health agencies in integrating peer workers into services settings. The Toolkit also includes a section on Peer Supervision.
Massachusetts Recovery Coach HUB (RC HUB): The RC HUB provides Recovery Coaches and Recovery Coach Supervisors a place to join regional learning communities, find resources, and save training certificates.
Peer Recovery Support Series, Part 1: A Beginner's Guide to Coaching Recovery: This Beginner’s Guide provides a recording and slides for a webinar that NAADAC offered led by Phil Valentine.
Peer Support Workers: SAMHSA defines peer support workers as people who have been successful in the recovery process and are helping others experiencing similar situations.
Value of Peers Infographics: Peer Recovery: SAMHSA’s infographic illustrating the benefits of peer support: what it is, what peers do, and how peer support makes a difference.
What are Peer Recovery Support Services?: Recovery Community Services Program (RCSP) participants have identified core values that inform the task of organizing the recovery community to provide peer recovery support services.
Principles of Peer Supervision Tip Sheet: This CAPRSS Tip Sheet provides guidance on the role, structure, and trainings needed for peer supervisors and guiding questions for organizations.
Substance Use Disorder Peer Supervision Competencies: The Regional Facilitation Center curriculum on the 20 core competencies of substance use disorder peer supervision.
Peer Recovery Support Series, Part 4: Peer Supervision - Leadership and Lived Experience: This NAADAC recorded webinar provides a training on peer supervision, ethics, and implementation.
Resources for the Supervision of Peer Workers: This SAMHSA Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy (BRSS TACS) guide links to supervision resources.
Peer Recovery Coach: Careers of Substance (COS), the Commonwealth’s online resource for the substance addiction workforce, provides detailed resources for individuals serving as Recovery Coaches and those interested in becoming Recovery Coaches, including a training calendar.
Massachusetts Board of Substance Abuse Counselor Certification (MBSACC): The MBSACC is the entity that issues the Certified Addictions Recovery Coach (CARC) credential in Massachusetts.
BSAS Recovery Support Trainings: This COS link offers list of Recovery Support Trainings required for CARC and CARC recertification available at specific dates and times, either in-person or online. Click on a training for information on upcoming sessions.
Recovery Education Collaborative (REC): The REC is the Commonwealth’s new provider of Recovery Coach trainings. The site also offers other recovery and recovery coaching related resources for Recovery Coaches, supervisors, and providers.
National Certified Peer Recovery Support Specialist (NCPRSS): The NCPRSS aims to standardize the knowledge and competencies of peer support workers. The site also offers a Peer Recovery Support Specialist Code of Ethics, outlining basic values and principles.
Taking the First Steps Together: A Guide to Creating Collaborative Peer-Led Services for Parents Affected by Substance Use: FIRST (Families in Recovery SupporT) Steps Together, a program focused on empowering parents and families affected by substance use, created this toolkit based on learnings from creating a strengths-based, person-centered, and trauma-informed program. The guide includes tools and resources to help agencies implement these approaches.
First Steps: My Family Portfolio and the First Steps: My Family Portfolio Provider Guide: These guides offer families in recovery tools to create a Wellness Vision, a Family Care Plan for expectant families, and a Family Action and Assessment Plan for tracking progress toward goals. The portfolio was designed by parents in recovery to help other parents through their journeys. The Provider Guide helps providers support families in completing their portfolio.
Institute for Health & Recovery (IHR): In addition to providing several programs focused on supporting families in recovery, IHR also offers family-oriented recovery trainings to “promote and sustain individual and organizational capacity to deliver trauma-informed care, person-centered care, promote recovery, wellness, and equity.”
Massachusetts Family Resource Centers (FRCs): Massachusetts has a network of 32 FRCs around the state that provide a range of services and supports for families, including supporting access to mental health and substance use services, peer support, housing and basic needs assistance, financial and legal support, and a range of parent trainings and family events.
Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) Locations: Find the phone number, address, and hours of operation for DCF local and regional offices.
Making CLAS Happen: The Office of Health Equity (OHE) has created a guide to providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) in a variety of public health settings.
National CLAS Standards: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services compiled resources for the 15 CLAS Standards designed to “advance health equity, improve quality, and help eliminate health care disparities by providing a blueprint for individuals and health and health care organizations to implement culturally and linguistically appropriate services.”
Massachusetts Facilities Assessment Tool (MFAT) Checklist: This form should be completed to ensure that contract awardees adhere to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.
Behavioral Health Equity: SAMHSA has compiled resources to promote behavioral health equity, support identified populations of focus, and address drivers of BH disparities.
Racial Equity: The American Public Health Association (APHA) understands the harmful effects that racism has on the nation’s health. APHA is working to mitigate these effects and achieve health and racial equity through public health policies, practices, programs and workforce.
Cultural Humility Primer: Peer Support Specialist and Recovery Coach Guide: This SAMHSA Addiction Technology Transfer Center primer is an entry level cultural reference for Peer Support Specialists and Recovery Coaches working in substance use and mental health fields.
Living with Discrimination Can Take a Toll on Health: An NPR/Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation poll revealed how discrimination affects the lives of eight groups and drives decisions that influence their health, safety, and well-being.
Diversity and Inclusivity Organizational Assessment Tool: On page 146 of the Peer Support Toolkit is a tool for assessing an organization’s diversity and inclusivity, including suggestions for conducting the assessment and a guide for determining how to increase diversity.
Advocacy Toolkit: This Faces and Voices of Recovery toolkit includes ten tips for relationship building with elected officials, meeting instructions, and an overview of the legislative process.
Healthy Communities and Community Engagement Capacity Building: DPH recognizes that community partnerships are essential to improving community health. DPH has compiled a list of resources, trainings, events, and standards for community engagement and coalitions.
Community Coalitions: Community Health Training Institute’s searchable coalition database.
Current Opioid Statistics: Mass.gov statewide and community specific opioid and overdose data and reports, including demographic data.
Virtual Gateway: The Mass.gov Virtual Gateway consolidates the state’s health and human service information into one online site. This link provides access to the Gateway, including resources for learning about the Gateway and its various provider platforms as well as links for accessing it directly with provider logins and for the Provider Data Management system.
101 CMR 346: The Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) Regulation 101 CMR 346.00 details rates for Certain Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders Programs.
Operational Services Division’s (OSD) UFR e-Filing: The OSD has established standard methods of complying with federal and state requirements for human and social services contracts and private special education programs, which include the Uniform Financial Statements and Independent Auditor's Report (UFR) that contractors must file with OSD on an annual basis.
ufrefilehelp@mass.gov: The UFR Help Desk can be reached by email for questions that arise.
Provider Billing Booklet: DPH’s cost reimbursement policies and billing guide for EIM/ESM.
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT): The EFT Authorization Form must be submitted in order to enroll, modify, or terminate an existing EFT agreement.
Financing Recovery Support Services: SAMHSA’s 2010 report provides information about the funding sources that support Recovery Support Services throughout the continuum of care, including specific examples of individual state financing models.
Executive Order 565: This executive order reaffirms and expands the Massachusetts SDP.
Supplier Diversity Program: The SDP encourages the award of state contracts that strengthen and increase business opportunities for Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs), Women Business Enterprises (WBEs), Service-Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (SDVOBEs), Veteran Business Enterprises (VBEs), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Business Enterprises (LGBTBEs); and Disability-Owned Business Enterprises (DOBEs).
Supplier Diversity Office (SDO): The SDO promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion in state contracting for businesses owned by minorities, women, veterans, service-disabled veterans, those with a disability, and LGBT individuals, as well as small businesses. The SDO certifies these businesses and manages programs that help enhance their marketability for public contracts.
sdp@mass.gov: The SDP Help Desk can be reached by email for questions that arise.
Executive Order 523: This Executive Order established the SBPP to support the existence and growth of eligible small businesses by providing special consideration in the Commonwealth's procurement process for goods and services required by state agencies.
Small Business Purchasing Program: The SBPP supports growth for small businesses across Massachusetts by offering marketing tools, education, events, and other resources. The SBPP helps connect small businesses to Executive Department buyers.
sbpp@mass.gov: The SBPP Help Desk can be reached by email for questions that arise.