CLIMB Health

The Career Ladders in Mental and Behavioral Health (CLIMB-Health) is a Healthcare Workforce Collaborative (HWC) initiative focused on creating postsecondary pathways at KCTCS for individuals in recovery/reentry seeking entry-level employment as peer specialists.

These include:

• Lived experience career pathways.
• Peer specialist training.
• Workforce development for mental and behavioral health employers.
• Professional development for incumbent peer specialists.

RECOVERY/REENTRY COLLABORATIVE 

Adult peer support specialist

An Adult Peer Support Specialist (APSS) guides clients toward the identification and achievement of specific goals defined by the client and specified in the Treatment Plan. To become qualified, a Kentucky Peer Specialist (KPS) completes 30 hours of training and passes both a written and oral test. The job of a KPS is not to replace current clinical mental health staff but to offer additional and/or alternative options to help people in their efforts to recover. Our state approved, 30-hour approved program provides virtual training for those seeking employment as Adult Peer Specialists. Upon completion of the APSS course, graduates can apply to be certified as Adult Peer Support Specialist (APSS) and seek employment within the industry.

To enroll in the Adult Peer Support Specialist (APSS) 30-hour course you must:

• Be eighteen (18) years of age or older;
• Have a current or past diagnosis of a mental health, substance use, or co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders;
• Have received or be receiving treatment;
• Have a minimum educational requirement of a high school diploma or General Equivalence Diploma (GED) certificate;
• Demonstrate a pattern of recovery from a mental health, substance use, or co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.

KCTCS Adult Peer Support Specialist by College