Subscribe to Our Newsletter

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
The College for Behavioral Health Leadership

The College for Behavioral Health Leadership

Where behavioral health leaders collaborate to grow and transform communities across the nation.

  • About
    • Vision, Mission, Principles
    • Who We Are
    • What We Offer
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Strategic Partners
    • Thank you to our Sponsors!
    • Contact
  • Equity-Grounded Leadership
  • Events
    • All Webinars & Events
  • Resources
    • Healthy Behavior Change E-Guide
    • Journal Articles, Reports & Toolkits
    • Summit Archive
    • Webinar Archive
    • Links
      • Health Equity and Anti-Racism
  • Membership
    • Why Join CBHL?
    • Membership Options
      • Emerging, Student, and Peer Leader Scholarship Application
    • Organizational Members
    • Login
    • Members Only
    • Your Account
  • News
  • Donate
    • Emerging, Student, and Peer Leader Scholarship Fund
    • Thank You to Our Donors
  •  

Search The College for Behavioral Health Leadership

Get Free Access to this Resource

  • Hidden
  • Hidden
  • Hidden
  • Hidden
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

National Survey of Compensation Among Peer Support Specialists

By CBHLResource Category: Journal Articles & Commentaries

Download this Resource

The peer support specialist workforce has been growing and expanding since Medicaid established funding for these services in 2007. Absent from much of the research on the peer support specialist workforce has been a detailed national review of wages and compensation. The genesis for this study began at The College for Behavioral Health Leadership during an annual summit, with the recognition that leaders in the peer support services field did not have any reasonable benchmarks for compensation standards.

In order to address the focus of this study two surveys were constructed. One was designed for peer support specialists to report their current compensation (N = 1,608). A second survey was developed as a comparison for organizations who employ peer specialists (N = 271). Non-probability sampling methods were used and three leading consumer organizations (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, International Association of Peer Supporters, and New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services) promoted and disseminate the surveys.

The findings of this study illustrate that there is diversity among the current national structure for the wages of peer specialists. This includes significant differences in average compensation rates between those who work all different hours ($15.42) and only full-time ($16.36). There are also different wage rates among the types of organizations (consumer and peer run organizations, community behavioral health organizations, health care provider organizations, inpatient psychiatric facilities, and health plan and managed care organizations) that employ this workforce. An analysis of the wages of peer specialists in the 10 US Department of Health and Human Services regions also demonstrates geographic differences in compensation rates and compares regional and national averages. Inequities in compensation rates are also noted between male and female peer specialists, with men receiving on average in excess of $2.00 more per hour than women. The implications for the findings of this study are discussed and include the need for greater attention and focus on the wages of the peer specialist workforce.

Footer

Contact Us

info@leaders4health.org
888-304-8455
1959 S Power Rd, Ste 103-237

Mesa, AZ 85206

Connect with Us

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

Join Our Mailing List

amazon smile logo

Key Links

  • Membership
  • Resources
  • About
  • Login

MHA National

Copyright © 2023 · The College for Behavioral Health Leadership · All Rights Reserved · Website by Tomatillo Design