CBHPSS Workforce Development
At the time of this article there are 210 certified behavioral health peer support specialists in Montana. Since the first peer supporter was certified by the board of behavioral health in September of 2018, there have been a total of 400 peer supporters certified. Roughly half or 50% are still working today. The other way to look at it is 50% or half are not. Losing half of its workforce in just over 5 years is not a sign of a healthy workforce. Historically MPN trains around 100 peer supporters a year, half of those who complete Peer Support 101 will not go onto get certified. Which is a topic for another article. Half of those who do complete training and are certified will not be for long. The CBHPSS workforce in Montana needs additional support.