E11 - Building New Horizons: Opening Career Pathways for Peers With Criminal Justice Backgrounds

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM CT

Location: 276, Level 2, ACCC

Workshop Presenter(s)

Christy Malik, MSW (she/her/hers)

Project Director
National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors
Alexandria, Virginia

Slides
Amy Brinkley, CAPRCII, CPSP

Recovery Support Services Coordinator
National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors
Lafayette, Indiana
Justin Volpe, CRPS-A (he/him/his)

Peer Support Coordinator
NASMHPD
Miami, Florida

Peers with criminal justice backgrounds play an integral role in supporting justice-involved individuals in their recovery journey while also providing meaningful employment opportunities and reducing the current peer workforce shortage. However, many peers with justice involvement face employment barriers. Learn how to develop and implement recovery-friendly best practices in recruiting, hiring, and integrating peer support workers who have lived experience of serious mental illness (SMI), substance use disorder (SUD), and criminal justice involvement. Attendees will learn how to focus on the applicant’s merits and qualifications for the position and view relevant lived experience with recovery and justice involvement as an asset and not a disqualifying factor.

Learning Objectives:

Demonstrate an understanding of federal, state and local policies that support equal opportunity for employing individuals with both lived experience and criminal records.
Identify fair hiring and interview practices to evaluate a jobseeker's skillsets and relevant personal lived experience to assess a candidate's ability to perform the essential functions of the job.
Discuss integration strategies that respect the peer role and address organizational culture (staff’s attitudes, stigma and unconscious bias toward employees with personal lived experiences of SMI/SUD and justice involvement).