Natasha Faruqui, Healthcare Strategy @ Peerakeet
On August 18, 2026, in Des Moines, Iowa, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that two new peer-support interventions had been added to the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse with a Supported rating. States now have a federal reimbursement pathway for delivering services through approved prevention plans.
The announcement advances two connected initiatives: Great American Recovery, launched in January 2026 to help people find treatment and stay connected to recovery, and A Home for Every Child, which emphasizes strengthening families and preventing unnecessary foster-care entry.
The two newly recognized interventions are specific and consequential. Family-Based Recovery is an intensive, in-home clinical program for parents with children ages 0–5 who are affected by addiction. It includes a weekly peer-support meeting while helping children remain in a safe, substance-free, stable home. Wellness Recovery Action Plan, or WRAP, is a facilitated peer-group program led by trained peer facilitators. It supports mental health and addiction recovery and helps participants prepare for, respond to, and recover from crises.
Family-Based Recovery and WRAP join two peer-support programs already rated Supported in the Clearinghouse: Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Teams, or START, and Parents Anonymous. HHS also issued a call for additional peer-support programs to be considered for systematic review, with a submission deadline of September 8, 2026.
This is incredible news for families, communities, and the peer workforce, and it is bigger than just one announcement. HHS framed peer support as the direct way to help parents overcome addiction while keeping children safely with their families, signaling that peer support is moving from a specialized feature of recovery programs, a promising practice, into a broader part of how the country delivers prevention, behavioral health, care navigation, and family support that is evidence-based. Iowa is the first state to adopt one of the new peer-support interventions. The state has already updated its prevention plan using ACF’s pre-reviewed model language, providing other states with a concrete example to follow.
The value of peer support is spreading because relationships solve problems that clinical encounters and referral lists cannot handle on their own. A person who has lived through recovery, reentry, parenting under pressure, a mental health crisis, or a difficult health journey offers something different: credibility, practical knowledge, hope, and a reason to stay.
The policy and practice landscape is barreling in this direction with full force. SAMHSA has documented peer roles across schools, criminal-legal settings, community behavioral health clinics, mobile crisis teams, emergency departments, inpatient care, crisis lines, and peer-run alternatives. In a state workforce survey cited by SAMHSA, respondents reported using mental health peers in 43 states, substance-use peers in 40 states, family peers in 34 states, and youth peers in 23 states.
These settings are different, but the operational challenge remains that peer support is relational, ongoing, and often spans many organizations. The work rarely fits neatly into a single appointment, department, or record. HHS’s latest action is a strong signal that lived-experience support is blooming. The next step is building the rails that allow these programs to grow without losing the very thing that makes it special.
The rails matter as much as the program
As new peer programs come online, it will not be enough to add a peer specialist to an existing organizational chart and give them a spreadsheet. Expansion brings real operational demands:
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Recruiting, scheduling, supervising, and supporting a growing peer workforce
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Managing caseloads, groups, outreach, referrals, and follow-up
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Documenting services without turning peer work into a clinical imitation
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Protecting sensitive information across health, substance-use, education, and family settings
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Showing funders, states, and community partners who was reached, what services were delivered, and what changed
Federal Medicaid guidance already points to the infrastructure required for sustainable peer services: training and certification, defined supervision, coordination within an individualized plan of care, and measurable goals. The guidance also recognizes that supervision may include experienced peers, depending on state rules and program design.
This is the exciting moment we are entering, where peer support is gaining recognition, reimbursement pathways, and a place in more formal systems. The risk may just be that the systems around it remain fragmented, and peers get disconnected from the ecosystem of recovery. Proper guide rails are needed to ensure peer support is here to stay.
How Peerakeet helps new programs scale
HHS’s action is a strong signal that lived-experience support is moving deeper into publicly funded systems. The next challenge is not simply proving that peer support works. It is building the operational infrastructure that allows programs to implement it, sustain it, and scale it without stripping away what makes it effective.
New reimbursement pathways do not automatically create functioning peer-support programs. Organizations still need to recruit and supervise peers, translate program requirements into workflows, document services, coordinate care, demonstrate fidelity, manage billing, and measure whether the program is reaching the people it was designed to serve.
Peerakeet provides the operational infrastructure for that work. It gives organizations one place to manage peer staff, participants, services, documentation, engagement, billing, and outcomes while preserving the relational character of peer support. As new programs move from evidence reviews and state plans into everyday practice, Peerakeet helps organizations turn authorization into implementation.
To learn more and schedule a chat with our team about how we can support your program visit: www.peerakeet.com
Sources
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HHS Announces New Peer Support Prevention Services to Strengthen Families. https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/hhs-expands-peer-support-addiction-recovery-families-foster-care.html
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Administration for Children and Families. Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse. https://acf.gov/opre/project/title-iv-e-prevention-services-clearinghouse-2018-2023
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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Connected and Strong: Strategies for Accessible and Effective Crisis and Mental Health Services. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GOVPUB-HE20_400-PURL-gpo235023
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Demonstration. https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/financial-management/certified-community-behavioral-health-clinic-ccbhc-demonstration
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Medicaid and CHIP Coverage of Peer Support Services FAQ. https://www.medicaid.gov/federal-policy-guidance/2024-06-05/165641
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U.S. Department of Education. School Mental Health Peer-to-Peer Exchange Series. https://www.ed.gov/teaching-and-administration/lead-and-manage-my-school/state-support-network/ssn-resources/school-mental-health-peer-to-peer-p2p-exchange-series-summary
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Health Homes. https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/long-term-services-supports/health-homes
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Resources for Community Health Workers. https://www.cdc.gov/chronic-disease/php/community-health-worker-resources/index.html
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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Intercept 4: Reentry. https://www.samhsa.gov/communities/criminal-juvenile-justice/sequential-intercept-model/intercept-4