Why are peer recovery mentors so important for their clients’ recovery? Mentors provide sober social support to their clients. For some, this may be the only sober social support they have. Kitty, one of the peer mentors interviewed, said about the peer mentor job and sober support, “We ask people to get rid of everybody but then we don’t replace them with anybody. Does that make sense? So that’s […] where I come in so that they do have sober support.” As Erin, another peer mentor interviewed puts it, “We’re [mentors] extra support for them [clients] because the more support you have through your recovery journey, the more apt you are to coming out successful.” One peer mentor, Sarah, thinks she would have achieved recovery sooner if she had a peer mentor, “ […] If I had this [a peer mentor] whenever I was […] using, […] I think it would have helped me because I didn’t have a support system. I think it would have made the world of a difference. I think I would have been in sobriety a lot sooner […].”

In addition to emotional support, the job of peer recovery mentors adapts based on the needs of the client. Erin, another mentor interviewed, said: “We also work with them on teaching them things that they never knew how to do.” Erin also discussed her experiences talking to her clients about basic finances, hygiene, and keeping a clean home. She thought peer mentors were able to talk to clients about this, as clients knew peer mentors did not come from a place of judgment. Kitty talked about the special role a mentor has, as a caseworker’s priority is the children, but a mentor’s priority is, “worry about mom and what’s going with mom or dad.” Mentors also provide or connect clients with resources. Sarah mentioned helping clients with transportation.

Being a peer mentor can be challenging but rewarding work. Sarah reflected on working with clients who aren’t compliant, and how they reminded her of her former self (before she was in recovery). Erin commented on how difficult it can be to see clients get so close to reunification with their children then they relapse and “slip and fall back into the drug pit […]”. Kitty discussed how the challenges a client face can hit a nerve, as they remind her of her previous challenges, like having a child removed by CPS. However, the great moments make up for the challenges. Erin felt that the most rewarding part of her job was seeing the “transformation” of clients from where they start out to when their case closes. Sarah felt that the best part of being a mentor was “just seeing them […] know that there’s hope.” She also remarked on the transformation she witnesses as the clients begin to “realize they can get through this, be sober, and live [happily]”. Kitty felt the most fulfilling part of her job was seeing the change in her clients and seeing them use the advice she had given them to better themselves. She reflected on a current client that’s recently improved, “have a mom, right now, that’s been struggling for four months, [she’s] been struggling and struggling. We’ve just turned that corner.”

The spread of peer recovery mentors has changed the community and the culture of CPS according to the mentors interviewed. Erin even talked about a client who is using medical marijuana and case is about to close. Kitty spoke about how peer mentors are transforming communities, “It’s changing people, and it’s changing kids’ lives, adult’s lives. I mean, it’s giving parents their children back. It’s giving grandma and grandpa their daughter back as well. It’s giving kids their moms back and their dads back.”

The mentors discussed how rewarding it was to give back to their community. Kitty reflected on the opportunity she had been given as a mentor, “It’s [the job] a life-changing event. I am making a difference in my own community, and in the community that maybe I wasn’t the best, to begin with.” Sarah said, “I always wanted […] to help others and to let them know that there’s another way.”

The stories of all peer recovery mentors inspire hope. They have battled addiction and endured other difficult circumstances, and they use these experiences to help others. Kitty talked about how her case seemed like a lost cause, “they say [you have] 12 out of 22 months to get your kid back and it took me 24.” Kitty also spoke about how individuals with substance abuse issues deserve multiple chances, “How many changes are too many if the last one saves a life?” Peer recovery mentors show that with many chances and proper support, recovery and reunification is possible.

A peer recovery mentor, Erin, was interviewed for the EPIC Blog.

Erin, what experiences led you to become a peer recovery mentor?

“I am a recovering addict, myself. I actually had CPS called on me, and it was right before they started the START program. I was honest with the caseworker about my history. About a month later I got a call from her, and she asked me if I would be interested in doing this job.”

How would you describe the job of a peer recovery mentor to someone who doesn’t know what it is?

“[…] We [peer recovery mentors] are someone who can give the client personal experience. They [the client] can talk to other people and […] their caseworker, but most of the time they are going to feel more comfortable talking to us because they know that we’ve been there. I’ve actually had a lot of clients that [do] that. It’s stuff they’d never tell their caseworker. And I always tell them [the client] I’m not going to go and tell anybody else. We’re extra support for them because the more support you have through your recovery journey, the more apt you are to coming out successful. A lot of clients […] don’t have that support system. A lot of them […] don’t have their family left, because they’ve all gotten tired of dealing with the things that come along with addiction. So they don’t have their family around anymore. Thank god I did. The more people that you have for your support, [the] better for you.

We also work with them on teaching them things that they never knew how to do. In addiction, we don’t have bank accounts, […] we don’t know how to budget money, and we don’t know how to save money. We don’t really care about keeping our house clean, or maybe our appearance, or hygiene. So it’s easier for us to say that to them because they know that we’re not judging them when we say this. We’ve been there before. But if a caseworker was to go up to them and say that kind of thing, they may feel some type of way about it.”

So you teach them life skills in a way that’s not adversarial.

“Yes.”

How did you become a mentor?

I became one through a caseworker at Child and Family [Services].

What has been the most rewarding part of being a peer mentor?

“Probably when I see someone that has actually seen the other side of it and get their case closed. Where they started out […] to where they end up […] when their case has closed is completely different. [It’s] a complete transformation. I feel like I was a part of it, you know? It’s very rewarding for me.”

What has been the most challenging part of being a mentor?

“Knowing what I know now and knowing where I was and seeing […] the clients where they are at. [Watching] them doing really well and them almost getting their kids back, and then they slip and fall back into the drug pit […] when they were so close. I know that I’ve been there […]. When I first started here, I went back told my mom and my dad, ‘I know you felt the whole time I was using because that’s how I feel towards my clients.’ […] You grow to where you have a relationship with them [the clients]. You care about them. So to see them slip and fall back into it when they were so close is probably the biggest challenge. It’s not a fun part of my job, but it happens.”

What has been the most surprising part of being a mentor?

“I guess how big peer mentors have grown just since I’ve started and how much we affect somebody in their recovery.”

How many clients are you currently working with?

“Eight.”

How often do you see them?

“It’s typically once a week depending on where they’re at. I have a client who’s really going through some stuff right now, so sometimes it goes up to three times a week for her.”

Does being a mentor strengthen your own recovery?

“Yeah, […] it’s definitely a two-way street. I feel like for me because I’ve been clean for a. while now, that […] seeing clients and where they’re at and what they’re going through reminds me that I don’t want to go back there and I don’t want to live that life anymore. But I feel like if somebody was to become a peer mentor that hasn’t been clean that long, […] it could lead them back into that lifestyle. They might not see a client getting high, or they might not see them high, but seeing them in that lifestyle might trigger them.”

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is still controversial. How would you say that peer mentors and caseworkers view clients on MAT?

“I can speak for Ohio – I went through my case in West Virginia, and they are nothing like how it is here. But in Ohio, I feel like they are very understanding, and they look at it [MAT] like a good thing […] for someone’s recovery. Now that it’s been around for a while, I think that people are starting to understand and [see] the benefits of people that are on it. It’s better to be on suboxone and able to get your life together. I’ve been on suboxone, so it gave me a way to get my life together […]. A lot of people may look at it as a crutch, and in a way, it may be. But I’m not out here […] sticking needs in me, or using dirty needles, or doing all that stuff that comes with getting high.”

Have you seen caseworkers willing to close the case if the clients are still on MAT?

“Oh yeah.”

“The whole medical marijuana thing is starting to come around more. That’s one of my cases that’s actually about to close, and she has a medical marijuana card. So that’s the first time I’ve seen a case close with that.”

What advice would you give to individuals who want to become peer mentors? What would you have liked to know before you started as a mentor?

“I went through the class to get my certificate, and that helped me a whole lot. Most of the people I was in the class had already started at their job before they took the class. They said, ‘Oh, I wish I would have done this beforehand.’ So, my advice would be to definitely take that class – I think it’s changed now to where you have to. The class definitely helped, you know, where you’re able to talk to people and what your role is going to be, and all that.”

Kitty, a peer recovery mentor, was interviewed on her experiences for the EPIC blog.

What were some of your experiences that led you to become a peer recovery mentor?

“Well, I am a recovering addict. I was in an accident when I was a small child, and I was put on opiates. […] I was on medication all through my childhood, and then I started to abuse drugs. I raised a couple kids – and so they were almost adults – and then I kind of lost the ability to function lost control over what I was doing. [I] got involved with CPS, and I really struggled for a while with CPS, with trying to stay sober.

Then I met a caseworker that had all the belief in the world in me, and things kind of changed. […] She knew [that] START was coming and all this stuff. She was like […], ‘you can do this’ and look how far you’ve come’. She was very encouraging and […] pushed me to, I guess, do better and be better. So when the opportunity came up to actually work with the same people that had taken my child, and the same people that had faith in me that I would turn around, and to help people that are going through that, and to make it not so scary, I jumped on it.”

So it sounds like it made a giant difference to have that support person in your life and one that was part of the system as well.

“Absolutely, and she’s actually my contact person at Children’s Services. She’s like my supervisor that I report to at Children’s Services.”

How many individuals or couples are you working with right now?

“I have seven moms, and then a mom and a dad.”

How often do you see them?

“I see them at least once a week. It depends on what’s going on if it’s more than that. I have a couple moms [clients] that are very early in recovery that I see twice a week. Most of them I see once a week, and then I talk to a couple times a week whether it’s text or on the phone.”

At which point do you switch from going multiple times a week to once a week?

“It depends on the person and where they’re at. I can have a mom I’m seeing once a week and then go to the point where I see her one week […] and she can be doing [well], and then something can happen, whether it’s a relapse or something in life, to where we backtrack a little bit. [I see her more] to [help] keep her sober and doing [well] so she has that support. A lot of moms I work with don’t have any other sober support.

I think that for years we’ve known that in order to be in recovery, you have to not just get rid of the drugs, […] but everything […] you’re hanging around. It’s not just the drugs that you’re addicted to, it’s [the] lifestyle, it’s friends. We ask people to get rid of everybody but then we don’t replace them with anybody. Does that make sense? So that’s […] where I come in so that they do have sober support. […] Usually, the families that I’m working with don’t have a lot of support, good, healthy, loving support. So it’s not even just me, the caseworker also steps in as that support, as that encourager, for lack of a better term.”

How would you describe being a peer recovery mentor to someone who had no idea what it was?

“Well, every time I get a new client, I have to do this.”, Kitty laughed. “What I tell them is that you [the client] have a caseworker, or CPS, and the caseworker’s job is to worry about the children and what’s going on with the children. Well, a peer mentor’s job is to worry about mom and what’s going with mom or dad. Also, my job is to hold your hand through those meetings […] and court hearings you’re going to, so they so scary. You know what to expect, and to remind you that a baby step is still a step. I think, especially in early recovery, people expect leaps and bounds and all we can do is tiptoe. But we’re still getting there. I think my job is to help them remember that. That we’re all human, we all need help at some point in time.”

What has been the most rewarding part of being a peer mentor?

“Honestly the most rewarding part and this is going to sound horrible, is when somebody [a client] calls me and says, ‘I was going to use and I thought about what you said’ or ‘I was going to use and I didn’t want to tell you and […] tell the caseworker that I had used’. ‘I remember you telling me this story, or whatever, and that popped in my head’. That’s the most rewarding when it works. When I see them going forward, and when I see them changing. I have a mom, right now, that’s been struggling for four months, [she’s] been struggling and struggling. We’ve just turned that corner. Every time I talk to her, every time I see her, she just looks different. She sounds different. It’s amazing. I know that in my life I’ve done a lot of things that weren’t great, but this is something that’s great. It’s changing people, and it’s changing kids’ lives, adult’s lives. I mean, it’s giving parents their children back. It’s giving grandma and grandpa their daughter back as well. It’s giving kids their moms back and their dads back. It’s just an amazing program.”

It really changes a community.

“It really does. I remember for the first time, there was a family and mom was still using but dad wasn’t. Children’s Services didn’t remove the kids. They decided that dad could be protective over the children, and the kids could stay home and safe. That was like an amazing thing to me, because we didn’t use to do that. We used to be if they [CPS] thought you were using, you couldn’t even see your children, let alone have them in your house. So, that difference is an amazing one to me.”

What has been the most challenging part of being a mentor?

“The most challenging [thing] I’ve [been] through so far was the time I was working with somebody and the children were removed. It was horrible. It touched home because my child had been removed, and honestly, I cried. I cried with the caseworker that day, afterward and beforehand. But it was the right thing to do, but it just didn’t feel good. Yeah, that was a challenge when the kids can’t stay home.”

Has there ever been a moment that’s surprised you through your time as a mentor?

Yeah, [that previous] moment, when the kid couldn’t stay home. I was in shock […]. When I first started [working at] Children’s Services, I expected the caseworkers to have an opinion [of me] […]. It is the same agency that I lost my child to, it’s the same agency I got my child back from. They say [you have] 12 out of 22 months to get your kid back and it took me 24. […] I came down to the very wire to get my daughter back. Not all of that was my fault, […] because I think a lot of mistakes were made at the beginning. So, I expected them [Children’s Services] to have an opinion of me. What I found was that they absolutely didn’t. They treated me just like another coworker […].

When we go to training for START, a lot of the [peer mentors] don’t work with the same agencies they lost their children to or got their children back from. I can’t imagine working for a different county. When I say something to one of the caseworkers, they listen to me. They don’t just take my opinion into consideration, they trust my word.”

It seems like it really is a team effort too.

“It absolutely is. We went to a training, and they were talking about how the caseworker and the peer mentor is a like marriage. It really is, it truly is like a marriage. We don’t always agree, because at the end of the day the caseworker is worried about the kids and I’m worried about mom and dad. So we don’t always agree on things, and we don’t always want the same thing. But we’re always respectful to each other, and we’re friends, and we care about each other.

I’ve also noticed people are scared of CPS, but that’s changing here in Fairfield County. It’s changing because parents are noticing that the caseworkers aren’t just caseworkers. That they’re people. And that no, maybe they’ve [the caseworkers] not been there, but they’re working with recovering addicts, so they have some idea of where I’m [parent] coming from. [The caseworkers] have to care a bit more than they [parents] once thought they did.”

Previous peer recovery mentors have said that it can be a two-way street. That their recovery is also strengthened when working with parents. Do you find this to be true?

“Well yeah, absolutely. So recovery […] is just like a job. You have to pay attention. You have to protect yourself. […] In recovery, we say ‘we only have today’. You don’t know what tomorrow brings. Yesterday has passed, we only have today. I live by that statement. But a lot of times as the days pile up and the months and the years pile up, we forget what it’s like to be an addict and we forget what it’s like to be in active addiction. Because of that, we slip back in and they relapse, and they have those issues. But working every day with people who are in active addiction, you don’t forget that. You don’t forget what it’s like to miss your children or to be scared that you’re going to lose your children because you’re with these people going through this every single day. […] It makes my recovery strong.”

For individuals who would like to be peer recovery mentors, what advice would you give them? What would you have liked to have known before you started?

“I’ve had caseworkers and people talking to me about it very early on, so I think I knew a lot more than [other] peer recovery specialists coming into it. But it’s a life changer. I would say jump both feet in. It’s a life-changing event. I am making a difference in my own community, and in the community that maybe I wasn’t the best to begin with. I would say go for it.

I just think it’s a great opportunity to have. I love what I do. For the skeptics that say ‘we’ve given them [the clients] 2, 3, 10 chances…’, how many changes are too many if the last one saves a life?”