For support workforce, including peer specialists, community health workers, and frontline providers
PEER Professionals
The Child & Youth Behavioral Health Center of Excellence (COE) empowers California’s peer support workforce, including peer specialists, community health workers, and frontline providers, with the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to meet certification standards and advance in the field. The COE is a CalMHSA-approved Continuing Education (CE) provider, ensuring equitable access to training, continuing education, and professional development.
Trainings Available for Peer Providers
Trauma and Resilience Informed Care: Everyday Strategies
This course offers certified Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialists continuing education (CE) credits, if eligible. This course is not just for care professionals; it explores trauma and resilience informed care, its six core principles, and the impact of stress and trauma in ways that are accessible for everyone. Using evidence-based materials, participants will engage in active learning and reflect on real-life applications. These practices can be applied at work, in daily interactions, and at home. The course also highlights healing strategies that emphasize the power of relationships.
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The Impact of Trauma on the Brain and Pathways to Healing
Stress and trauma can take a significant toll on the minds and bodies of individuals and families. This course will provide an inside look at the potential impact that stress and trauma on the brain and how that affects everyday living. This course also highlights ways in which intentional healing can begin. A trauma and resilience informed lens is also described, supporting learners in ways to “focus on the wins.”
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Shifting Perspectives: Adopting a Trauma & Resilience Informed Lens
Employing a trauma and resilience informed lens in your work requires practice. Take this course and learn alongside fictional county employees as they adopt and practice the core principles of trauma and resilience informed care to improve their interactions with the people around them in the “real world.” Consider how applying the skills taught in this video can enhance your current work practices.
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Enhancing Family Engagement Through Adaptive Practices
This course is designed to support facilitators and clinicians who work with adolescents and youth involved in various systems (e.g., child welfare, juvenile justice, residential treatment, foster care, and more). When working with youth and adolescents in these settings, facilitators experience distinct challenges when engaging with the youth’s family. In this course, facilitators will enhance family engagement and appreciation while building a more positive family climate for the youth and their families. Facilitators will learn specific strategies such as tokens of appreciation to share with.
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Foundations for Building Family Resilience
FOCUS (Families Over Coming Under Stress) is used to teach strategies for building resilience in families, within the context of each family’s story and goals. Use the FOCUS techniques to help the families you work with to stay strong and support one another during times of stress or transition.
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Enhancing Professional Wellbeing
The Enhancing Professional Wellbeing course is designed to explore ways to maintain personal wellbeing, support a positive working environment, and reduce feelings of burnout. Learn about wellbeing from fellow LA County employees and explore fictional situations to gain strategies for supporting professional wellbeing.
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Ensuring Privacy and Confidentiality in Peer Support and Community Mental Health
This course offers Certified Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist Continuing Education (CE) credits, if eligible. This course will help participants understand the significance of privacy and confidentiality when engaging with communities. It will cover legal aspects and delve into ethical issues and provide guidance on how to safeguard protected health information (PHI) and determine when to share or withhold it. Through various examples and scenarios, participants will gain practical skills that can be applied in both community outreach and workplace settings.
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Job Preparation and Readiness
This course offers certified Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialists continuing education (CE) credits, if eligible. Job Preparation and Readiness is designed to empower participants in their career development by reviewing job preparation skills. Participants will learn strategies for studying and test taking, crafting resumes and cover letters, gearing up for a job interview, and utilizing a network or other career resources.
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In addition to the courses available on the Wellbeing for LA Learning Center, the COE developed the CLEAR Platform to support Certified Peer Providers associated with the LA County Department of Mental Health.
CLEAR is a centralized peer learning hub that offers evidence-informed, culturally responsive courses and tools designed to strengthen professional competencies while supporting structured peer certification pathways and readiness for certification.
CLEAR supports workforce growth, connection, and wellbeing while strengthening a prepared, supported, and credential-ready peer workforce.
