CESAR Empowers Marylanders in Recovery to Help Support Others in Need
New Website Centralizes Information on Becoming a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist in Maryland
Researchers with the University of Maryland’s Center for Substance Use, Addiction and Health Research (CESAR) recently launched a website that they hope will become the go-to source for Marylanders who are interested in becoming a peer recovery specialist—someone who has lived experience with substance use disorder(s), who works to help those who are currently struggling with substance use disorder(s).
Multiple stakeholders from across the state—including peer trainers, peers, and representatives from the Maryland Peer Advisory Council and the Maryland Addiction and Behavioral Health Professionals Certification Board—contributed to the creation of the site, dubbed “Peer Bridge.”
“What we had heard a lot in working with people on some of our other peer projects was that folks had to go to a lot of different places to find information … and how it would be nice to have a central place where people could go to get the whole story about peers in Maryland and what’s involved in getting certified,” said CESAR Deputy Director of Policy Erin Artigiani. “Peer Bridge is really what it sounds like; it was designed to serve as a bridge for a lot of existing resources in Maryland that support and guide peers in different ways.”
Artigiani co-led the creation of Peer Bridge with CESAR Digital Media Manager Barbara Kerr and peers on staff at CESAR. Their work was supported by a one-year, $35,000 grant from the University of Maryland’s Do Good Campus Fund.
“Because our funding was from the University of Maryland, we were very Maryland focused. We also tried to strike a balance between the rural parts of the state and the urban parts of the state because they have different needs, and different access to resources,” said Kerr.
Information concerning what a peer recovery specialist is, how peer recovery programs got their start in the state, why proper training is important, what the state’s certification process looks like, and more can all be found on Peer Bridge—important because there is currently no national peer recovery specialist certification process.
According to Kerr, even the terminology about peer recovery specialists varies from state to state.
“Hopefully Peer Bridge can become a model, and then other states will get interested in creating something similar for their communities,” Artigiani said.
Peer Bridge’s impact could stretch even further, the team said.
“There’s a wider universe of peer support that’s not just about recovery from drugs and alcohol, a wider mental health community that we could expand Peer Bridge to,” said Kerr. “But if Peer Bridge helps provide a stronger foundation for peers and people wanting to become peers, to make it faster and easier for them to move along their path, that will be great.”
Published on Thu, Sep 11, 2025 - 2:28PM