Florida recognizes peer specialists as a distinct behavioral health workforce serving people affected by mental health conditions, substance use disorders, and related recovery needs. The state uses a formal certification system administered through the Florida Certification Board, which the Florida Department of Children and Families has approved to certify peer specialists, approve peer training programs and continuing education, and establish certification standards.
Florida’s primary peer credential is the Certified Recovery Peer Specialist (CRPS). The state also recognizes peer pathways tailored to different forms of lived experience and populations.
Florida law and Department of Children and Families policy make certification particularly important. Individuals providing peer support services generally must be certified, although a person may provide peer services for up to one year while seeking certification when supervised by a qualified professional. Peer specialists provide nonclinical recovery support and do not provide therapy solely by virtue of their peer credential.
Florida Medicaid covers behavioral health services through a combination of state policy and managed care. Peer support may be incorporated into eligible behavioral health programs and Medicaid arrangements, but certification as a peer specialist does not by itself establish independent Medicaid billing authority. Organizations must review the specific Medicaid service, provider qualifications, managed care contract, supervision requirements, documentation standards, and billing rules that apply.
Florida Peer Support Quick Facts
Category | Florida overview |
|---|---|
State Medicaid program | Florida Medicaid |
Primary peer credential | Certified Recovery Peer Specialist |
Credential abbreviation | CRPS |
Credentialing organization | Florida Certification Board |
State behavioral health authority | Florida Department of Children and Families |
Behavioral health office | Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health |
Certification required | Yes under applicable state peer-support requirements |
Certification grace period | Up to one year while seeking certification when appropriately supervised |
Recovery requirement | DCF identifies a two-year recovery requirement for Peer Recovery Specialists |
Peer training infrastructure | DCF-designated Managing Entities and FCB-approved training |
Medicaid authority | Florida Agency for Health Care Administration |
Medicaid delivery | Statewide Medicaid Managed Care |
Mental health peer services | Yes |
Substance use peer services | Yes |
Peer role | Nonclinical |
Therapy permitted solely as a peer | No |
Background screening | Applicable under Florida requirements |
Recovery-oriented framework | Florida Recovery-Oriented System of Care |
Common settings | Community behavioral health, SUD treatment, FACT, recovery organizations, hospitals, housing and community programs |
Last reviewed | August 2026 |
What Is Peer Support?
Peer support is nonclinical assistance provided by someone whose relevant lived experience informs how they support another person’s recovery.
Florida’s Recovery-Oriented System of Care incorporates peer specialists into a broader system built around multiple pathways to recovery, recovery capital, community support, and person-centered behavioral health services.
Peer support may emphasize:
- Hope
- Recovery
- Self-determination
- Personal choice
- Empowerment
- Mutuality
- Recovery capital
- Community connection
- Strengths
- Self-advocacy
- Natural supports
- Wellness
- Multiple pathways to recovery
- Intentional use of lived experience
Peer specialists support individuals through shared experience and recovery-oriented relationships while maintaining a role distinct from psychotherapy and other licensed clinical services.
Common Peer Support Activities
Depending on the program, Florida peer specialists may:
- Build recovery-oriented relationships
- Share lived experience appropriately
- Help individuals identify recovery goals
- Support recovery planning
- Identify strengths
- Build recovery capital
- Connect people with community resources
- Support treatment engagement
- Help people navigate behavioral health systems
- Facilitate peer groups
- Promote self-advocacy
- Support transitions between services
- Connect individuals with mutual aid
- Support community integration
- Provide recovery education
- Help identify natural supports
- Support wellness
- Participate on behavioral health teams
- Document peer services when required
Peer specialists do not become therapists, clinicians, or independent medical professionals through peer certification.
Certified Recovery Peer Specialists in Florida
What Is a Certified Recovery Peer Specialist?
The Certified Recovery Peer Specialist, commonly abbreviated as CRPS, is Florida’s principal professional peer credential.
The credential is administered by the Florida Certification Board, which serves as the state’s approved third-party peer credentialing organization.
The Florida Certification Board establishes requirements related to:
- Lived experience
- Training
- Work or volunteer experience
- Supervision
- Examination
- Ethics
- Continuing education
- Recertification
Organizations should use the current Florida Certification Board requirements when establishing hiring or credential-compliance policies.
Florida Peer Specialist Training
Florida uses a regional training structure rather than requiring every prospective peer specialist to obtain training from one statewide classroom provider.
The Florida Department of Children and Families works through behavioral health Managing Entities to support peer specialist training and workforce development.
Training used toward certification must meet applicable Florida Certification Board requirements.
Regional Managing Entities include organizations serving different parts of Florida, such as:
- Central Florida Cares
- Lutheran Services Florida Health Systems
- Northwest Florida Health Network
- Southeast Florida Behavioral Health Network
- Broward Behavioral Health Coalition
- Thriving Mind South Florida
- Central Florida Behavioral Health Network
Prospective peer specialists should verify current training availability through DCF, their regional Managing Entity, and the Florida Certification Board.
Certification Requirement
Florida establishes a formal certification pathway for individuals providing professional peer-support services.
A person may provide peer services for up to one year while seeking certification when appropriately supervised by a qualified professional.
This creates two important workforce statuses:
Peer working toward certification
and
Certified Recovery Peer Specialist
Organizations employing peers who are still working toward certification should track:
- Employment or volunteer start date
- Certification deadline
- Required training
- Experience
- Supervision
- Examination
- Application status
- Final certification
Recovery Requirement
Florida DCF identifies a requirement that a Peer Recovery Specialist have been in recovery for the preceding two years.
Organizations should distinguish between:
- General lived experience
- Recovery-duration requirements
- Credential-specific requirements
- Medicaid staff qualifications
- Employer requirements
These may overlap but are not necessarily identical.
Background Screening
Florida peer specialists may be subject to background-screening requirements based on their role and service setting.
This issue is particularly important in peer services because lived experience may include previous justice-system involvement.
Florida maintains an exemption-from-disqualification process for certain individuals who would otherwise be prohibited from working in covered positions.
Organizations should therefore avoid assuming that a past criminal history automatically creates permanent ineligibility. Current Florida background-screening requirements and applicable exemption procedures should be reviewed for each position.
Peer Support Scope of Practice in Florida
Florida peer specialists provide nonclinical behavioral health and recovery support grounded in lived experience.
Activities Commonly Associated With Peer Support
Depending on the program, peers may:
- Engage participants
- Build trust
- Share lived experience
- Promote hope
- Support recovery goals
- Help develop recovery plans
- Promote self-advocacy
- Identify strengths
- Build recovery capital
- Connect people with services
- Connect people with community resources
- Support treatment engagement
- Support transitions
- Facilitate peer groups
- Help build natural supports
- Provide recovery education
- Support community integration
- Document peer services
- Participate on interdisciplinary teams
Activities Generally Outside the Peer Role
Unless separately licensed and authorized, peers generally should not:
- Diagnose mental health disorders
- Diagnose substance use disorders
- Provide psychotherapy
- Practice medicine
- Prescribe medication
- Represent themselves as licensed clinicians
- Conduct assessments reserved for licensed professionals
- Independently establish clinical treatment plans
- Make clinical determinations outside peer scope
Florida’s Recovery-Oriented System of Care
Florida organizes significant portions of its peer-support infrastructure through its Recovery-Oriented System of Care, commonly abbreviated as ROSC.
The framework emphasizes:
- Multiple pathways to recovery
- Peer support
- Recovery capital
- Recovery planning
- Person-centered services
- Community integration
- Natural supports
- Recovery community organizations
- Peer-run organizations
- Long-term recovery
The model recognizes that recovery extends beyond acute clinical treatment and can involve relationships, housing, employment, education, community, purpose, and other resources that support long-term wellbeing.
Recovery Capital
Florida’s recovery-oriented infrastructure places particular emphasis on recovery capital.
Recovery capital may include resources such as:
- Relationships
- Housing
- Employment
- Education
- Community
- Family support
- Recovery networks
- Physical and behavioral health
- Personal skills
- Purpose
- Social connection
Florida recovery-oriented resources have also incorporated tools such as the BARC-10 and recovery planning materials.
This creates an opportunity for peer programs to measure outcomes beyond traditional clinical measures.
Mental Health Peer Support
Florida’s peer workforce is not limited to substance use recovery.
Peer specialists work within mental health programs serving people with serious mental illness and other behavioral health conditions.
They may work alongside:
- Clinicians
- Case managers
- Nurses
- Psychiatrists
- Substance use specialists
- Vocational specialists
- Other behavioral health professionals
while maintaining a distinct peer role.
Florida Assertive Community Treatment
Florida Assertive Community Treatment, or FACT, provides intensive multidisciplinary community-based services for individuals with serious behavioral health needs.
Peer specialists are included within the multidisciplinary FACT workforce.
FACT teams may include:
- Psychiatrists
- Licensed mental health professionals
- Nurses
- Vocational specialists
- Substance use specialists
- Case managers
- Peer specialists
Peer specialists within these teams may support:
- Engagement
- Recovery planning
- Self-advocacy
- Community integration
- Natural supports
- Treatment participation
- Recovery goals
Substance Use Peer Recovery
Peer specialists also play an important role in Florida’s substance use treatment and recovery system.
They may support individuals through:
- Treatment engagement
- Recovery planning
- Post-treatment transitions
- Overdose response
- Community recovery
- Recovery community organizations
- Mutual aid connection
- Harm reduction where applicable
- Recovery capital development
- Reentry
- Housing
- Employment
- Community resource navigation
Recovery Community Organizations
Recovery community organizations, commonly called RCOs, form an important part of Florida’s recovery ecosystem.
Services may include:
- Peer recovery support
- Recovery coaching
- Mutual support
- Telephone recovery support
- Community activities
- Resource navigation
- Recovery planning
- Family support
- Advocacy
- Education
- Volunteer opportunities
An RCO should not assume that being a recovery organization automatically makes every service Medicaid reimbursable.
Is Peer Support Covered by Florida Medicaid?
Florida Medicaid covers a broad range of community behavioral health services addressing mental health and substance use disorders.
The answer to whether a particular peer service is reimbursable, however, depends on the specific Medicaid benefit and delivery structure.
Florida Medicaid maintains service-specific policies covering areas such as:
- Behavioral Health Assessment Services
- Behavioral Health Community Support Services
- Behavioral Health Intervention Services
- Behavioral Health Medication Management
- Behavioral Health Therapy Services
- Behavioral Health Overlay Services
Peer support has also been expressly incorporated into certain Florida Medicaid initiatives and community-support structures.
Organizations should therefore determine which Medicaid benefit actually supports the peer activity they intend to provide.
Can an Individual Peer Specialist Bill Florida Medicaid Directly?
Organizations should not assume that CRPS certification creates independent Medicaid billing authority.
Certification establishes that an individual meets applicable professional peer requirements.
It does not necessarily mean the person can independently enroll with Medicaid and submit claims.
Organizations should separately determine:
- Covered Medicaid service
- Eligible billing provider
- Organizational enrollment
- Staff qualifications
- Managed care requirements
- Authorization
- Supervision
- Documentation
- Procedure code
- Modifier
- Units
- Place of service
- Treatment or recovery-plan requirements
Statewide Medicaid Managed Care
Florida Medicaid operates primarily through Statewide Medicaid Managed Care.
This means peer-support organizations may need to satisfy both:
Florida Medicaid requirements
and
Medicaid managed care plan requirements
depending on the service.
Managed care requirements may affect:
- Credentialing
- Contracting
- Prior authorization
- Documentation
- Billing
- Claims
- Provider networks
- Care coordination
- Utilization management
- Referrals
Organizations should verify requirements with the applicable Medicaid health plan before implementing a reimbursable peer service.
Supervision of Florida Peer Specialists
Supervision is an important component of Florida peer practice.
It is particularly important for individuals providing peer services during the state’s certification-development period.
Administrative Supervision
May address:
- Scheduling
- Caseload
- Attendance
- Documentation completion
- Organizational policy
- Performance
- Program requirements
Peer Practice Supervision
May address:
- Intentional use of lived experience
- Peer values
- Boundaries
- Recovery orientation
- Mutuality
- Ethics
- Self-determination
- Advocacy
- Role fidelity
- Staff wellness
Clinical Consultation
Clinical professionals may provide consultation when issues involve:
- Diagnosis
- Treatment
- Medication
- Acute clinical risk
- Medical concerns
- Matters outside peer scope
Clinical consultation should not erase the distinct identity of peer practice.
Documentation for Florida Peer Support Services
Documentation requirements depend on:
- Florida Medicaid
- Managed care
- DCF funding
- Managing Entity contracts
- Grant funding
- Program requirements
- Service definitions
- Employer policy
Common Documentation Elements
A Florida peer-support note may include:
- Participant identifier
- Date
- Start and end time
- Duration
- Location
- Modality
- Participant-defined recovery goal
- Peer intervention
- Relevant use of lived experience
- Recovery-support activity
- Resources discussed
- Participant response
- Progress
- Barriers
- Follow-up plan
- Peer specialist name
- Credential
- Signature or attestation
Peer Documentation Should Be
- Accurate
- Timely
- Person-centered
- Recovery-oriented
- Strengths-based
- Respectful
- Relevant
- Within peer scope
- Consistent with payer requirements
- Limited to necessary information
Peer Documentation Should Avoid
- Unsupported diagnoses
- Clinical interpretations outside peer scope
- Stigmatizing language
- Copying identical notes
- Documenting services that did not occur
- Unnecessary trauma details
- Personal opinions presented as facts
- Documentation designed solely to justify billing
Documentation and Billing Are Not the Same Thing
A complete peer-support note does not automatically create a payable Medicaid claim.
Payment may separately depend on:
- Member eligibility
- Medical necessity or program eligibility
- Provider enrollment
- Covered service
- Staff qualifications
- CRPS status
- Supervision
- Authorization
- Service plan
- Procedure code
- Modifier
- Units
- Place of service
- Managed care requirements
- Timely filing
Confidentiality and Information Sharing
Florida peer programs may handle highly sensitive behavioral health information.
Depending on the organization and service, applicable requirements may include:
- HIPAA
- 42 CFR Part 2
- Florida confidentiality law
- Medicaid requirements
- DCF requirements
- Managed care requirements
- Organizational privacy policies
- Minor consent and confidentiality requirements
Peer workers should receive role-specific training addressing:
- What information they may access
- What they should document
- When information may be shared
- Participant consent
- Care-team communication
- Substance use records
- Text messaging
- Mobile devices
- Telehealth
- Social media
- Crisis communication
- Legal requests
- Boundaries
Where Peer Support Is Delivered in Florida
Community Behavioral Health Programs
Peers may work within community mental health and substance use programs providing engagement, recovery support, navigation, and community integration.
Florida Assertive Community Treatment
FACT teams formally incorporate peer specialists within multidisciplinary behavioral health teams.
Substance Use Treatment Programs
Peers may work in:
- Outpatient treatment
- Intensive outpatient programs
- Residential programs
- Withdrawal management
- Medication treatment programs
- Recovery-oriented programs
Recovery Community Organizations
RCOs and peer-run organizations provide community-based recovery support outside or alongside formal clinical treatment.
Hospitals and Emergency Departments
Peer specialists may support:
- Post-overdose engagement
- Treatment connection
- Recovery planning
- Referral navigation
- Discharge transitions
- Community connection
Crisis Services
Peer specialists may participate in behavioral health crisis systems when permitted by the applicable service model and staff requirements.
Housing and Community Support
Peer services may be incorporated into housing and community-support initiatives serving people with behavioral health needs.
Justice and Reentry Programs
Peers with relevant lived experience may support:
- Reentry
- Diversion
- Behavioral health courts
- Community supervision
- Recovery following incarceration
Youth and Family Programs
Peer and family support may be incorporated into child and family behavioral health services, subject to the qualifications and service definitions of the particular program.
Collegiate Recovery Programs
Florida colleges and universities may use:
- Peer mentors
- Recovery coaches
- Student recovery leaders
- Certified peer specialists
- Collegiate recovery staff
A collegiate peer role is not automatically a Medicaid service simply because it uses a peer-support model.
Starting a Peer Support Program in Florida
Step 1: Define the Population
Identify who the program will serve:
- Adults with mental health conditions
- People with substance use disorders
- People with co-occurring conditions
- Youth
- Young adults
- Families
- People following overdose
- People leaving treatment
- People experiencing homelessness
- Justice-involved individuals
- College students
- A specific cultural or geographic community
Step 2: Define the Peer Role
Determine whether workers will function as:
- Certified Recovery Peer Specialists
- Peers working toward certification
- Recovery coaches
- Peer mentors
- Family peers
- Community peers
- Volunteers
Step 3: Determine Certification Requirements
Verify:
- Appropriate Florida Certification Board credential
- Lived-experience requirements
- Recovery-duration requirements
- Required education
- Required experience
- Supervision
- Examination
- Background screening
- Continuing education
- Recertification
Step 4: Identify the Funding Model
Potential funding sources may include:
- Florida Medicaid
- Medicaid managed care
- DCF contracts
- Managing Entity funding
- Federal block grants
- State Opioid Response funding
- Opioid settlement funding
- Hospital funding
- Federal grants
- Local government
- Philanthropy
- University contracts
- Private payment
Step 5: Confirm Organizational Eligibility
For reimbursable programs, determine:
- Who bills?
- Is the organization Medicaid enrolled?
- What service is covered?
- Is CRPS certification required?
- What supervision applies?
- What code applies?
- What health-plan requirements apply?
- What authorization applies?
- What documentation is required?
Step 6: Establish Supervision
Define:
- Administrative supervision
- Peer-practice supervision
- Clinical consultation
- Certification supervision
- Ethics consultation
- Staff wellness support
Step 7: Design the Workflow
Map:
- Referral
- Eligibility
- Intake
- Consent
- Assignment
- Matching
- Scheduling
- Service delivery
- Documentation
- Supervision
- Escalation
- Follow-up
- Transition
- Discharge
- Outcomes
- Billing
Step 8: Establish Role Boundaries
Create written policies addressing:
- Scope
- Confidentiality
- Crisis response
- Transportation
- Gifts
- Social media
- Dual relationships
- Communication outside work hours
- Home visits
- Community relationships
- Staff wellness
- Role drift
Step 9: Measure Outcomes
Programs may consider tracking:
- Engagement
- Retention
- Participant-defined goal progress
- Recovery capital
- Community connection
- Treatment engagement
- Successful transitions
- Housing stability
- Employment
- Education
- Natural supports
- Self-advocacy
- Satisfaction
- Peer workforce retention
- Certification completion
- Supervision completion
- Documentation timeliness
Common Challenges for Florida Peer Programs
Certification Management
Florida’s pathway can result in organizations simultaneously employing:
- Certified peers
- Peers working toward certification
- Staff approaching certification deadlines
- Staff completing continuing education
- Staff awaiting background-screening determinations
Organizations should track each status separately.
Background Screening
Peer workforces are intentionally built around lived experience. Background-screening requirements and exemption procedures therefore need to be managed accurately and fairly.
Managed Care Complexity
Florida’s Medicaid managed-care structure means requirements may vary by health plan in addition to statewide Medicaid policy.
Documentation Burden
Peer workers often enter the field because of their ability to build relationships and support recovery. Excessive documentation can reduce the amount of time available for those activities.
Role Drift
Peers may gradually be assigned:
- Case-management responsibilities
- Transportation
- Administrative work
- Surveillance
- Clinical tasks
Organizations should establish written role boundaries and supervision procedures.
Fragmented Technology
Programs may use separate systems for:
- Referrals
- Scheduling
- Documentation
- Participant communication
- Credential tracking
- Supervision
- Training
- Medicaid billing
- Managed care
- Grant reporting
- Outcomes
Demonstrating Outcomes
Peer programs may create value that is not fully represented by traditional clinical measures.
Programs may need to measure:
- Connection
- Hope
- Engagement
- Recovery capital
- Self-efficacy
- Community participation
- Participant-defined progress
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Florida’s primary peer credential?
The primary professional credential is the Certified Recovery Peer Specialist, or CRPS, administered by the Florida Certification Board.
Who certifies peer specialists in Florida?
The Florida Certification Board serves as the DCF-approved third-party credentialing organization for peer specialists.
Do peer specialists need certification?
Florida establishes certification requirements for professional peer-support services. Under applicable DCF requirements, an individual may provide peer services for up to one year while seeking certification when appropriately supervised.
Does Florida require lived experience?
Yes. Lived experience is fundamental to the peer specialist role and applicable credentialing pathways.
Is there a recovery-duration requirement?
DCF guidance identifies a two-year recovery requirement for Peer Recovery Specialists.
Do peer specialists need background checks?
Background-screening requirements may apply based on the role and service setting. Florida also maintains procedures for seeking exemptions from certain disqualifications.
Can someone with a criminal record become a peer specialist?
Potentially. A criminal history does not necessarily create permanent ineligibility. Applicable background-screening statutes and Florida’s exemption-from-disqualification process should be reviewed.
Can a peer specialist provide therapy?
No, not solely through the peer credential. Peer support is a nonclinical service. A person who separately holds a clinical license may perform clinical services when acting under that professional license.
Is peer support covered by Florida Medicaid?
Peer support is incorporated into certain Florida Medicaid behavioral health and community-support structures. Reimbursement depends on the specific covered service, provider type, staff qualifications, managed care arrangement, and other requirements.
Can a CRPS independently bill Florida Medicaid?
Do not assume so. CRPS certification establishes peer qualifications but does not by itself create independent Medicaid billing authority.
Does Florida Medicaid use managed care?
Yes. Florida operates Statewide Medicaid Managed Care, making plan-specific requirements important for organizations providing Medicaid-funded behavioral health services.
Can peers work in mental health programs?
Yes. Florida’s peer workforce includes mental health recovery roles.
Can peers work in substance use programs?
Yes. Peer specialists are used throughout substance use treatment, recovery support, and recovery-oriented systems.
Can peers work on FACT teams?
Yes. Peer specialists are included within Florida Assertive Community Treatment multidisciplinary teams.
Can peers work in hospitals and emergency departments?
Yes. Peer models may be used for post-overdose engagement, behavioral health transitions, treatment navigation, and recovery support.
Can peers work in recovery community organizations?
Yes. RCOs and peer-run organizations are explicitly recognized within Florida’s Recovery-Oriented System of Care infrastructure.
Can peer support be delivered virtually?
Some programs may permit telephone or video-based peer support. Organizations should verify Medicaid, managed care, DCF, privacy, consent, and documentation requirements for the particular service.
Can peers write progress notes?
Yes, when documentation is required by the organization, payer, grant, or program. Notes should remain within peer scope and accurately reflect the service provided.
What outcomes should Florida peer programs track?
Programs may consider engagement, retention, participant-defined goals, recovery capital, community connection, treatment engagement, housing, employment, education, satisfaction, successful transitions, and workforce measures.
Official and State-Recognized Florida Peer Support Resources
Certification and Training
Florida Certification Board
Florida’s DCF-approved credentialing organization for Certified Recovery Peer Specialists and other behavioral health credentials. The Board maintains current certification applications, standards, examinations, continuing education, and recertification requirements.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://flcertificationboard.org/
Florida Certification Board Peer Specialist Credentials
Current credentialing information for Florida peer specialists, including applicable CRPS pathways, certification requirements, applications, and credential-maintenance information.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://flcertificationboard.org/
Florida DCF Peer Specialist Training and Technical Assistance
Official Department of Children and Families resource explaining Florida’s peer-specialist training structure, Florida Certification Board relationship, Managing Entity responsibilities, training, and technical assistance.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://www.myflfamilies.com/services/samh/samh-providers/samh-providers-training-and-technical-assistance
Florida DCF Peer Recovery Specialist FAQ
Official state guidance addressing peer certification, recovery requirements, supervision while pursuing certification, background screening, and peer scope of practice.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://www.myflfamilies.com/services/background-screening/frequently-asked-questions-peer-recovery-specialist
Florida DCF Recovery-Oriented System of Care
State resource containing peer-support, recovery-capital, recovery-planning, recovery community organization, multiple-pathways, and recovery-oriented practice resources.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://www.myflfamilies.com/services/samh/providers/recovery-oriented-system-care
Florida Background Screening Exemption
Official DCF resource explaining the exemption-from-disqualification process for individuals subject to Florida background-screening requirements.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://www.myflfamilies.com/services/background-screening/apply-exemption-disqualification
Medicaid and Reimbursement
Florida Medicaid
Official Florida Medicaid program administered by the Agency for Health Care Administration, providing current Medicaid policy, provider, managed care, enrollment, and coverage information.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://ahca.myflorida.com/medicaid
Florida Medicaid Community Behavioral Health Services
Official AHCA resource for Medicaid community behavioral health coverage policies and related provider requirements.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://ahca.myflorida.com/medicaid/medicaid-policy-quality-and-operations/medicaid-policy-and-quality/medicaid-policy/medical-and-behavioral-health-coverage-policy/behavioral-health-and-health-facilities/community-behavioral-health-services.html
Florida Medicaid Service-Specific Policies
Official AHCA collection of adopted Medicaid service-specific policies, including behavioral health assessment, community support, intervention, medication-management, therapy, and related services.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://ahca.myflorida.com/medicaid/rules/adopted-rules-service-specific-policies.html
Florida Medicaid Statewide Medicaid Managed Care
Official resource for Florida’s Medicaid managed-care system, including plan, provider, contract, and program information.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://ahca.myflorida.com/medicaid/statewide-medicaid-managed-care
Florida Medicaid Health Plan Resources
AHCA resource containing Medicaid health-plan provider guides and information relevant to behavioral health providers, care coordination, utilization management, and managed-care operations.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://ahca.myflorida.com/medicaid/medicaid-policy-quality-and-operations/medicaid-policy-and-quality/medicaid-policy/florida-medicaid-s-health-plan-resources.html
State Agencies
Florida Department of Children and Families
Florida agency responsible for the state’s publicly funded mental health and substance use system and major behavioral health policy and program functions.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://www.myflfamilies.com/
DCF Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Florida’s primary state behavioral health authority for publicly funded mental health, substance use treatment, prevention, recovery support, and related services.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://www.myflfamilies.com/services/samh
Florida Agency for Health Care Administration
State agency responsible for administering Florida Medicaid and regulating major components of Florida’s healthcare system.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://ahca.myflorida.com/
Florida Medicaid
Florida’s Medicaid program and primary state source for Medicaid coverage, provider policy, reimbursement, managed care, and behavioral health requirements.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://ahca.myflorida.com/medicaid
Community and Peer Recovery Resources
Florida Recovery-Oriented System of Care
DCF’s statewide recovery-oriented framework and resource hub supporting peer services, recovery capital, multiple pathways to recovery, recovery community organizations, and recovery-oriented behavioral health practice.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://www.myflfamilies.com/services/samh/providers/recovery-oriented-system-care
Florida Recovery Support Services
DCF resource addressing recovery community organizations, peer-run organizations, peer support, multiple pathways to recovery, and community-based recovery services.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://www.myflfamilies.com/services/samh/providers/recovery-oriented-system-care/recovery-support-services
Florida Managing Entities
Florida’s regional behavioral health Managing Entities coordinate publicly funded mental health and substance use services and play a significant role in peer training, contracting, provider networks, and regional recovery infrastructure.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://www.myflfamilies.com/services/samh
Florida Assertive Community Treatment
DCF information on Florida’s intensive community-based behavioral health system, including FACT teams that incorporate peer specialists alongside clinical and community-support professionals.
Last checked: August 12, 2026 Link: https://www.myflfamilies.com/services/samh/treatment-services/AMH/system-of-services-and-support
Technology for Florida Peer Support Programs
Technology designed for Florida peer programs should account for:
- CRPS credential tracking
- Peers working toward certification
- One-year certification timelines
- Training completion
- Supervision
- Continuing education
- Recertification
- Background screening
- Exemption status where applicable
- Peer-specific documentation
- Participant-defined goals
- Recovery-oriented language
- Recovery capital
- Mental health peer support
- Substance use peer support
- Recovery community organizations
- FACT workflows
- Referrals
- Caseload management
- Scheduling
- Groups
- Participant communication
- Recovery plans
- Medicaid documentation
- Managed care requirements
- Grant reporting
- Outcomes
- Role-based permissions
- Sensitive substance use information
- Mobile and community-based workflows
Florida’s certification pathway creates a particular workforce-management challenge because an organization may simultaneously employ people who are:
- New peer workers
- Working toward certification
- Completing required training
- Accumulating required experience
- Receiving supervision
- Preparing for certification
- Fully certified
- Approaching recertification
- Completing continuing education
- Completing background-screening or exemption processes
A generic clinical record may capture encounters but fail to capture the relationships, recovery capital, community connections, participant-defined goals, and lived-experience interventions that make peer support distinct.
Technology should strengthen peer practice rather than force peer services into a purely clinical model.
About Peerakeet
Peerakeet builds infrastructure for organizations delivering peer support and recovery services.
The platform supports peer-specific documentation, program workflows, supervision, participant engagement, scheduling, reporting, credential management, and day-to-day operations.
Peerakeet does not determine whether a service is billable and does not replace guidance from Florida Medicaid, AHCA, DCF, the Florida Certification Board, Medicaid managed care plans, attorneys, compliance professionals, or other applicable authorities.
Editorial Disclaimer
This guide is provided for general educational purposes. It is not legal, billing, credentialing, clinical, or regulatory advice.
Florida peer-support requirements may vary by Medicaid benefit, provider type, credential, contract, managed care plan, funding source, population, and program. Certification standards, Medicaid requirements, procedure codes, reimbursement rules, and state guidance may change after publication.
Organizations and peer professionals should verify current requirements with the Florida Department of Children and Families, Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, Florida Certification Board, applicable Medicaid managed care plans, current provider guidance, contracts, and qualified professional advisors.
Last reviewed: August 2026.