Peers Reach Out Supporting Peers to Embrace Recovery (PROSPER): A Center for Substance Abuse Treatment Recovery Community Services Program

Abstract

Peers Reach Out Supporting Peers to Embrace Recovery (PROSPER), a Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) Recovery Community Services Program (RCSP) grantee, is based in Los Angeles, California, under the umbrella of its facilitating agency, Walden House, Inc. (WH) that is headquartered in San Francisco, California. There are more than 100,000 men and women in Los Angeles who are on parole, probation, or are being released from state prison and county jails on any given day. Most of those individuals and their families are concentrated in Central and South Central Los Angeles. Peers in the program include people in recovery who have been incarcerated, and their families and significant others. The combined effects of substance abuse and incarceration can be overwhelming for individuals and families, as relapse and recidivism rates indicate. WH believes that social support through a peer-community approach can have a significant impact on this specific population. PROSPER is a unique, strength-based recovery maintenance program based on holistic peer-to-peer social support that complements existing services with a responsive program design that addresses the dual challenge of recovery and reentry. The strategic mix of includes an array of peer-run groups, coaching, workshop/seminars, social and recreational activities, and community events. Establishing a culturally appropriate peer-to-peer recovery community for the target population is timely for WH, given the agency's current work with the population in prisons and in the community; its basic peer-driven approach as a modified therapeutic community; and its experience, expertise, and expansive network serving the criminal justice population in Los Angeles.