Sisterhood Spotlight

You have an incredible depth of experience supporting justice-involved individuals through recovery. How has your personal journey shaped your approach to leading statewide Peer Recovery Specialist services?

As a person who has recovered from a substance use disorder through God within faith, justice, treatment, and recovery settings, I want to ensure all are accessible to any person who may still sit in hopelessness. Hope was extended to me 15 years ago within justice settings and I desire to provide the same opportunity where judgement is suspended, and bias is laid aside to see others recover. Healing takes place in environments where vulnerability is enabled. A person can't become vulnerable in spaces where trust isn't active. Without vulnerability (trust), a person will conceal what needs to heal and the root issues will not be addressed.  I've not only experienced the comfort peer support brings in times of distress, but I've also witnessed it. I've sat in recovery classrooms and group rooms where individuals share about situations they've never shared up to that point. The power mutuality brings is inevitably what enables transparency and transformation. As a Virginia state leader, a leader with the Virginia Department of Corrections, and mentor among states, I envision a day where Peer Recovery Specialists (PRS) are integrated into every justice setting to build recovery capacity, expand support, and enhance systems.

As we recognize National Fentanyl Awareness Day, what message do you believe is most important for communities to hear about prevention, recovery, and the role of peer support in saving lives? 
 
SAMHSA statistics reveal that majority of people with a substance use disorder do recover.  Recovery is based on four different dimensions: Health, Home, Purpose & Community.  These dimensions are essential for individuals to achieve a meaningful recovery journey.  I’ve often heard the following quote in reference to substance use disorders, ‘the opposite of addiction is connection’.  Due to stigma, many are detached from their community.  We must understand what stigma is while addressing it for prevention and recovery purposes. Stigma is a negative attitude, judgement, or false belief based from personal or professional bias. It causes individuals to isolate, lowers self-esteem, and reduces the likelihood of one accessing or engaging in services. When stigma is reduced or obsolete, people who experience mental health or substance use challenges can be enabled to engage in wellness. All of us are individuals in a community who have the ability to suspended personal bias to offer hope to another person. Hope extends life and where there is breath, there is hope.

Another avenue allowing stigma to remain or increase is through our verbiage.  When we label a person as a disorder instead of a person separate from their challenge this hinders a person's identity as it minimizes their whole being (including strengths and resilience) while magnifying the disorder or challenge. It causes limitations to recovery and dismisses hope for a brighter future. Recovery restores the whole being while it focuses on strengths, is holistic, person centered, and restorative.

Peer support plays such a critical role in reducing stigma and strengthening recovery outcomes. What advice would you offer to organizations or leaders who want to better integrate peer recovery into their programs?

Recovery services and treatment services are fundamentally different. Many interchange these two services, however, they offer different supports. Treatment provides clinical support with an 'expert-patient' hierarchy model, while recovery offers support through mutuality, lived experience and equality. Both are valuable and necessary, however, when these two professional roles don't have clear boundaries, it can hinder progression.

The PRS field has been around for decades, just with different titles for different departments. The field has developed more within the last decade. One of the main challenges peer workers experience is not having trained professionals, colleagues, and organizations who understand their professional role. One main misconception around the peer role is that it's 'like a sponsor'. While this holds some truth concerning shared mutuality, there are vast differences between a sponsor and a Peer Recovery Specialist. A best practice for integration of peer staff into organizations is to have staff trained with up-to-date material on the function and role of a PRS. This helps to minimize assumptions, assists with the role transition into the department, and helps identify potential bias or challenges that could impact the professional recovery service. The supervisor oversight of the PRS staff is also critical to the development of the role. Supervisors should understand the unique role of a PRS, while addressing personal bias which can hinder the growth and professional development of the PRS position. Several PRS (among multiple organizations) experience ‘peer drift’.  This is caused by the role not being specifically defined with a job description and role clarification, for both the organization and PRS.  Across the state we’ve seen PRS pulled in many directions and assigned duties outside of the PRS role.  New trainings have emerged to address this concern and this seems to have decreased over time.

While looking at professional roles, the PRS position should be equivalent to other roles (counselors, case managers, etc) as they offer a unique, valuable and credible service. When PRS staff are not valued as an equal on a team, this will filter into the service provided which impacts those entrusted to the system of care or custody. The foundation of peer support is lived experience, but is not limited to this aspect alone. Peer Recovery Specialists are equipped with skills, knowledge, and resources. These positions are considered 'out of the box' while they agitate system complacency, bring creative approaches, and extend beyond office settings.

For individuals or families who are looking to support a loved one in recovery, what resources or tools do you most often recommend to help them navigate the journey?

A substance use disorder has often been referred to as a family disease. This is due to the impact it has on more than the person using substances. Any person surrounding the person using substances can be impacted. Virtual support expanded over the last five years which can be easily accessed. Al-Anon is a mutual aid support group centered for family and friends of a person with substance use challenges. Meetings can be found online and in-person, which also includes NA, AA, and more. Treatment services for loved ones are also accessible through counseling centers like Community Services Boards (CSB), private counseling sectors or clinics.  There’s also 211 – a person can call this number and be connected to relevant services and resources.  988 is a resource which can be used by dialing or texting.  It offers emotional support for suicidal crisis or emotional distress.  Peer support can be accessed through many avenues including mutual aid support groups, warm lines, recovery centers, and faith settings.

Additionally, there’s also Naloxone (aka Narcan).  Naloxone is a life saving tool used to reverse an opioid overdose. This medication as saved many lives, who are now in recovery and living productive fulfilling lives. Naloxone is free and can be accessed at health departments, local coalitions, and some non-profits (but not limited to).

Peer support can also be accessed through many avenues including mutual aid support groups, warm lines, recovery centers, and faith settings.

About Si’Andra Lewis

Si’Andra serves full-time as the Statewide Peer Recovery Specialist (PRS) Coordinator for the Virginia Department of Corrections through the Reentry & Recovery Services Unit. In this role, she manages SUD PRS services statewide for Probation and Parole Districts and Correctional Centers.

For 15 years, Si’Andra has offered recovery support to multiple agencies including justice involved systems of care, Recovery Court Teams, MAT programs, and jail & prison-based populations across the state. In a volunteer capacity in both Virginia and Tennessee, Si’Andras provided consultation to local recovery houses, has mentored youth, and serves as a leader in faith communities. She is an advocate for system changes, stigma reduction, and she remains transparent to coach and lead others. She values her role as a person in long term recovery, graduate of Tazewell County Recovery Court, and recovery leader.

For her dedication and many contributions to the recovery community, Si’Andra was recognized by the Virginia Office of the Attorney General, Mark Herring, in 2018 with the Unsung Hero Award.

In 2024, she was the VADOC lead for the COSSUP PRSSMI grant. The grant provided an opportunity for VADOC to mentor both Colorado Department of Corrections and Wyoming Department of Corrections for integration of Peer Recovery Specialist services with their state departments.