Peer Support Specialist Certification in Connecticut: Training, Hours and Medicaid Rules

The Connecticut Certification Board, a private nonprofit certifying board, created the Certified Peer Support & Recovery Professional and the CPSRP+(F) family modifier effective June 1, 2026, with an optional one-year Provisional credential for applicants who finish training and the exam before the supervised hours.

Its Certified Peer Recovery Specialist application, dated July 2014 and still posted, is separate, and the sources read do not establish whether the CPSRP replaces the CPRS or the two run in parallel — so ask the CCB and any employer which credential a role requires.

The CPSRP documents state the credential is not a license and does not authorize independent practice; the CPRS application likewise says it provides no permission to practice beyond credentials you already hold.

CPSRP applicants must be at least 18, live or work in Connecticut, and provide a state or federal picture identification — the CPRS application instead requires a high school diploma or GED.

The CPSRP definition asks for firsthand lived/living experience with a behavioral health condition of your own and identifying as in recovery and/or having improved your health and wellness; you initial the attestation on the application.

The (F) modifier inverts the basis: it is for firsthand lived/living experience as a family member of someone with a behavioral health condition, and it is expressly for people who do not have lived/living experience of their own.

Family is not limited to relations by blood, marriage, or adoption.

The training is the same for both, so the modifier decides which attestation you sign, not a different course.

The CPSRP sets one training requirement: complete the 80-hour CPSRP training through a DMHAS-approved training organization and upload the certificate of completion with the application.

The 80-hour figure is the certifier's own application requirement — no state rule sets it.

The older CPRS credential trains differently: a high school diploma or GED plus 50 hours across the four peer recovery domains, with at least 10 hours each in Advocacy, Mentoring/Client Education and Recovery/Wellness Support, at least 16 in Ethical Responsibility, and 4 elective hours.

If you are choosing courses, confirm the provider is DMHAS-approved before you pay.

For the full CPSRP you document 300 hours of supervised employment, which must include 25 hours of direct supervision; 150 supervised volunteer hours in a Recovery Support Specialist or Recovery Coach role count toward the total.

This is the step your supervisor controls: each direct supervisor completes an evaluation form rating the 12 core competencies, a minimum rating of 24 is required, and the supervisor must know SAMHSA's core competencies to sign.

If you worked at more than one site, every supervisor signs for their share of the hours.

The examination date and work hours are flexible, so the one-year Provisional credential bridges the gap while the hours accrue.

The CPRS counts differently: 500 hours of volunteer and/or paid work plus 25 hours of domain supervision.

The CPSRP requires a passing score on the examination, and no CPSRP-specific document read names its type or vendor; the CCB's generic certification-steps sheet shows a computer-based examination, but that sheet's flow is written for the CCB's other credentials, with a portfolio and board review.

The CPSRP mechanics are their own sequence: after the CCB approves your application you receive an email about the examination at a test center, and the examination site fee must be received before you can schedule.

If you applied for it, a verified passing score gets the optional one-year Provisional credential emailed to you, and the full CPSRP is emailed once the supervisor verifies the hours and evaluation.

The steps sheet adds that a failing applicant may retake the exam after a 60 day window.

The CPRS instead requires a passing score on the IC&RC Peer Recovery Examination.

The CPRS is an IC&RC credential and the CCB is an IC&RC member board, so reciprocity for that credential runs through the IC&RC member boards.

For the CPSRP, no reciprocity route appears in the sources read; what the CPSRP application does require is an attestation that you live or work in Connecticut at the time you apply.

If you hold a peer credential from out of state, email the CCB before you start Connecticut training to ask how it is treated — that is cheaper than paying for a program twice.

The full CPSRP is valid for two years, and the CCB lets you renew in one-, two- or three-year periods.

Its June 2026 renewal packet lists the CPSRP+(F) continuing-education requirement as 10 CEUs per year — 2 in CPSRP Ethics & Values, 4 in peer/coaching and 4 behavioral-health electives — at renewal fees of $25, $40 or $55 for the period chosen.

Most CCB credentials require at least half of renewal training hours from CCB-reviewed and approved education, and training approved by any IC&RC member board also counts as CCB approved.

Late fees are per credential: the CPSRP+(F) application charges $25 for renewals more than 30 days late, while the CPRS application charges $100.

The CPRS renews on 10 hours of peer-recovery continuing education per year, including 3 hours of ethics.

The CPSRP and CPSRP+(F) are brand new — effective June 1, 2026 — and the CCB website carries a CPSRP Grandparenting application, whose terms the documents read do not state.

Whether the new credential replaces the CPRS or the two run in parallel was not established by the sources read; the CPRS application, dated July 2014, is still posted on the CCB site.

Because the CPSRP is this new, read the current CCB documents before you apply rather than relying on older summaries.

To apply for the CPSRP you must be at least 18 years of age, live or work in Connecticut, and provide a state or federal picture identification.

The CCB charges a $50 registry filing fee, a $150 application processing fee and a $150 examination site fee, all non-refundable, and asks you to allow two to four weeks for application review; the registry step comes first, before the application.

After training the order is registry, then the application — and the examination date and work hours are flexible, so the exam and the supervised hours can happen in either order.