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Promoting Recovery – Peer Support for Child-Welfare Involved Parents Report
Peer Recovery Support Services are considered an integral component of an effective system of care for families with substance use disorders (SUD), yet the integration of these services into child welfare contexts is just beginning. The Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing and the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin partnered with Santa Maria Hostel to conduct a statewide study examining peer recovery support practices for families involved with the child welfare system in Texas. The study aimed to document how Peer Recovery Support Services are implemented and integrated across settings and inform practice and policy development. Using a two-phase design, researchers conducted an environmental scan of peer recovery programs across Texas—including geographic distribution, service settings, certification and training requirements, and program goals—and completed interviews with 20 peer specialists to examine how they translate core principles of peer support into practice, understand their role in cross-system collaboration, and define positive outcomes for families.
Findings indicate that less than half of SUD treatment and/or recovery service providers in Texas employ peer specialists. Services were more concentrated in metropolitan regions, with notable gaps in rural communities. Peer specialists emphasized purposeful use of lived experience, relationship-centered practice, and commitment to person-driven recovery, while also highlighting the importance of strengthening training and supervision, reducing stigma toward parents with substance use disorder, and expanding long-term, family-centered recovery pathways. Integrating Peer Recovery Support Services in child welfare settings has great potential to help parents navigate complex systems and improve family outcomes, but it requires cross-system training and clarification of the peer support role.
Key Recommendations
- Address service gaps in rural communities
- Focus on individual and family needs to support long-term recovery
- Enhance training and supervision for peer specialists
- Clarify peer support roles in child welfare
- Develop a pathway of recovery for child welfare-involved parents