The Youth Peer Mentor Program (YPMP) was developed to support the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) goal to serve youth and rural areas of the state to reduce unmet treatment needs and opioid overdose related deaths through the provision of evidence-based prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
- The Youth Peer Mentor Program (YPMP) project was initially piloted in 2019/2020 at the California Department of Corrections (CDCR), Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) as part of the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Expansion Project funder under the State Opioid Response (SOR) grant.
- The YPMP was expanded in 2021/2022 to create scalable and sustainable programs and services that are evidence-based, culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and met the needs of youth in underserved communities across the State of California.
- The YPMP has been funded under SOR 3 to continue statewide expansion in 2023/2024.
The Youth Peer Mentor Program (YPMP) seeks to address California’s substance use crisis by:
- Providing culturally responsive substance use education, prevention, harm reduction and expansive experiences to young adults across California (with a focus on system-impacted and marginalized at-risk youth).
- Helping individuals, especially those with lived experience, become Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialists (PSS) and enter the substance use disorder treatment workforce as certified SUD Counselors.
- Creating scalable and sustainable programs by building capacity across California through community partnerships to help deliver YPMP.
Learn more about YPMP (Click Links Below):
YPMP Overview 2023 and Beyond
YPMP Tier 1 Appendix