Approval in California

The California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA) — pronounced “Cal-mey-suh”— is a Joint Powers of Authority (JPA), comprised of County Mental and Behavioral Health Departments. Our board of directors is made up of county behavioral health directors. Our purpose is to be a separate public entity to provide administrative and fiscal services in support of the Members’ Mental/Behavioral Health Departments acting alone or in collaboration with other Departments.

CalMHSA is proud to be the certifying entity for the Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialists Certification in California. We are responsible for the certification, examination, and enforcement of professional standards for the certification. CalMHSA manages the California Certification Registry, Including investigating consumer complaints and imposes disciplinary actions against a Certificant who violates the Code of Ethics.

The California Mental Services Authority follows state standards for the certification of Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialists in California in accordance with Chapter 7, Part 3, Article 1.4, Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=WIC&division=9.&title=&part=3.&chapter=7.&article=1.4.

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Certified Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialists (CMPSS) provide recovery-oriented, culturally appropriate services that promote engagement, socialization, self-sufficiency, self-advocacy, natural supports and are trauma aware. 

INITIAL CERTIFICATION: 80-Hour Training through an approved training provider is required for all Initial Certification applicants. Trainings by providers not on this list, or training completed prior to the provider being approved by CalMHSA, will not qualify for initial Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist Certification. You may select and register for training at any time: https://www.capeercertification.org/training-for-medi-cal-peer-support-specialist/

RECERTIFICATION: To maintain certification, a certified MPSS must complete 20 hours of continuing education every two years from the date of the initial certification and thereafter for renewal. Six hours of law and ethics are required during each two-year cycle. Eligible continuing education courses promote professional development, aimed at enhancing the quality of care provided. Applicants are responsible for taking courses within their scope of practice.  

To satisfy the renewal requirements, courses must be non-repetitive (i.e., the same CE course cannot be claimed more than one time during each certification period, even if the course was taken annually). Courses may be taken in various ways, including asynchronous, in-person, and online and through a variety of trainers.  

For a directory of CalMHSA-approved CE training providers: https://www.capeercertification.org/ce-training-providers/.

Please note that CMPSS can obtain CEs from other providers, provided they meet the criteria specified on The CalMHSA Certification Renewal and Continuing Education (CE) webpage: https://www.capeercertification.org/certification-renewal-continued-education-requirements/