II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2733 

To address the behavioral health workforce shortages through support for 

peer support specialists, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 

Mr. KAINE (for himself and Mr. BRAUN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To address the behavioral health workforce shortages through 

support for peer support specialists, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Providing Empathetic 

5 and Effective Recovery Support Act’’ or the ‘‘PEER Sup6 port Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF PEER SUPPORT SPECIALIST. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act, the term ‘‘peer sup9 port specialist’’ means an individual— 


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1 (1)(A) who has lived experience of recovery 

2 from a mental health condition or substance use dis3 order and who specializes in supporting individuals 

4 with mental health conditions or substance use dis5 orders; or 

6 (B) who has lived experience as a parent or 

7 caregiver of an individual with a mental health con8 dition or substance use disorder and who specializes 

9 in supporting families navigating mental health or 

10 substance use service systems; and 

11 (2) who is certified as qualified to furnish peer 

12 support services, as described in subsection (b), 

13 under a process that is determined by the State in 

14 which such individual furnishes such services or de15 termined appropriate by the Secretary of Health and 

16 Human Services. 

17 (b) PEER SUPPORT SERVICES.—The services de18 scribed in this subsection shall be consistent with the Na19 tional Practice Guidelines for Peer Supporters issued by 

20 the National Association of Peer Supporters (or a suc21 cessor publication) and inclusive of the Core Competencies 

22 for Peer Workers in Behavioral Health Services of the 

23 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administra24 tion. 


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1 SEC. 3. RECOGNIZING THE PEER SUPPORT SPECIALIST 

2 PROFESSION. 

3 Not later than January 1, 2025, the Director of the 

4 Office of Management and Budget shall revise the Stand5 ard Occupational Classification system to include an occu6 pational category for peer support specialists. 

7 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHING THE OFFICE OF RECOVERY. 

8 Part A of title V of the Public Health Service Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 290aa et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

10 section 501C (42 U.S.C. 290aa–0b) the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 501D. OFFICE OF RECOVERY. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established, in the Sub13 stance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 

14 an Office of Recovery (referred to in this section as the 

15 ‘Office’). 

16 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—The Office shall be headed by a Di17 rector who has demonstrated experience in, and lived expe18 rience with, mental health or substance use disorder recov19 ery. 

20 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Through the Office of Re21 covery, the responsibilities of the Director shall include— 

22 ‘‘(1) providing leadership in the identification of 

23 new and emerging issues related to recovery support 

24 services; 

25 ‘‘(2) supporting technical assistance, data anal26 ysis, and evaluation functions in order to assist 


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1 States, localities, territories, Indian Tribes, and 

2 Tribal organizations in developing recovery support 

3 services and identifying best practices with the ob4 jective of expanding the capacity of, and access to, 

5 recovery support services; 

6 ‘‘(3) providing support for the training, edu7 cation, integration, and professionalization of the 

8 peer support specialist workforce; 

9 ‘‘(4) disseminating best practice recommenda10 tions with respect to peer support specialist training, 

11 certification, supervision, and practice to States and 

12 other entities that employ peer support specialists; 

13 ‘‘(5) supporting peer support specialists with 

14 ongoing professional development and retention ac15 tivities; and 

16 ‘‘(6) developing recommendations on creating 

17 career pathways for peer support specialists. 

18 ‘‘(d) FUNCTIONS.—Beginning on the date of enact19 ment of this section, the functions of the Office shall in20 clude the responsibilities described in subsection (c) and 

21 the functions of the Office of Recovery of the Substance 

22 Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on the 

23 day before such date of enactment, including all of its per24 sonnel, assets, authorities, obligations, and liabilities, ex25 cept as otherwise specified in this section. 


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1 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION OF PEER SUPPORT SPECIALIST.— 

2 In this section, the term ‘peer support specialist’ has the 

3 meaning given such term in section 2 of the Providing 

4 Empathetic and Effective Recovery Support Act’’. 

5 SEC. 5. RESEARCH AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON CRIMINAL 

6 BACKGROUND CHECK PROCESS FOR PEER 

7 SUPPORT SPECIALISTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

9 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec10 retary’’), in coordination with the Attorney General, shall 

11 develop a report on research and recommendations with 

12 respect to criminal background check processes for indi13 viduals becoming peer support specialists. 

14 (b) CONTENTS.—The report under subsection (a) 

15 shall include— 

16 (1) a summary of evidence-informed literature 

17 on the effectiveness of peer support specialists in im18 proving the mental health and the substance use dis19 order recovery of other individuals; 

20 (2) a survey of each State’s laws (including reg21 ulations) that contain criminal background check re22 quirements for serving as a peer support specialist, 

23 including— 

24 (A) an analysis of criminal offenses that 

25 are included in State laws (including regulaVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Sep 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2733.IS S2733

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1 tions) that prevent individuals from earning a 

2 peer support specialist certification or from 

3 practicing as a peer support specialist; 

4 (B) an analysis of requirements (if any) 

5 under the State plan under title XIX of the So6 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) or 

7 under a waiver of such plan relating to back8 ground checks for providers participating under 

9 such plan or waiver and the extent to which any 

10 such requirements differ from similar require11 ments imposed under State law (including regu12 lations); 

13 (C) an analysis of requirements (if any) of 

14 any State receiving a grant under part B of 

15 title XIX of the Public Health Service Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 300x et seq.) relating to background 

17 checks for providers participating in a program 

18 under, or otherwise providing services supported 

19 by, such grant; 

20 (D) a review of State laws (including regu21 lations) that provide exemptions from prohibi22 tions regarding certification or practice of peer 

23 support specialists; and 

24 (E) an indication of each State that has 

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1 wise changing criminal background check laws 

2 (including regulations) for the certification and 

3 practice of peer support specialists; and 

4 (3) recommendations to States on criminal 

5 background check processes that would reduce bar6 riers to becoming certified as peer support special7 ists. 

8 (c) AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 1 year after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 

10 (1) post the report required under subsection 

11 (a) on the publicly accessible internet website of the 

12 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Ad13 ministration; and 

14 (2) distribute such report to— 

15 (A) State agencies responsible for certifi16 cation of peer support specialists; 

17 (B) the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

18 Services; 

19 (C) State agencies responsible for carrying 

20 out a State plan under title XIX of the Social 

21 Security Act or under a waiver of such plan; 

22 and 

23 (D) State agencies responsible for carrying 

24 out a grant under part B of title XIX of the 


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1 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x et 

2 seq.). 

Æ 


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