Peer Support Specialist Certification in Louisiana: Training, Hours and Medicaid Rules
Louisiana certifies peer support specialists; it does not license them.
The requirements live in the Louisiana Medicaid Behavioral Health Services Provider Manual: peer support services are delivered by Recognized and Credentialed Peer Support Specialists who must be recognized by an OBH approved certification organization, complete LDH/OBH-approved training, and document 25 hours of supervised core-competency work, required both to render services and before independent practice.
Lived experience plus 12 months of continuous recovery is required, criminal background checks are statutory, and 10 continuing education units a year keep the certification active.
Verify before you rely on this
At a glance
Recognized Peer Support Specialist (RPSS) and Credentialed Peer Support Specialist (CPSS), which the manual lists together in one qualification block, plus the Recognized Peer Supervisor (RPS) above them.
The Louisiana Department of Health Office of Behavioral Health, a state agency, sets the requirements.
Specialists must be recognized by an OBH approved certification organization, which the manual does not name.
An LDH/OBH approved peer training program built on SAMHSA's Core Competencies, completed before providing peer support services; the manual sets no training-hour total.
Minimum age 21 and a high school diploma or GED are required.
25 hours of documented clinical Supervision in Core Competencies, which the manual requires both to render peer support services and, with five hours targeting each domain, before working independently.
No other work-hour total is stated.
The minimum qualifying score or better on the knowledge and skill assessments built into the OBH-approved training.
The manual names no separate state examination.
Required: lived experience with a mental illness and/or substance use challenge, disorder, or condition, plus at least 12 months of continuous recovery demonstrated by a supporting lifestyle.
Satisfactory completion of criminal background checks under La.
R.S.
40:1203.1 et seq. and La.
R.S.
15:587 (as applicable).
Providers shall not hire individuals failing the requirements, and checks over 90 days old are not accepted.
Covered: peer support services are behavioral health rehabilitative services under the Louisiana Medicaid Behavioral Health Services Provider Manual ch. 2 §2.3, for members 21 or older with a mental illness and/or SUD diagnosis.
10 continuing education units approved by OBH each calendar year, three in ethics, documented to OBH by December 31 or the certification is considered lapsed, plus an annual attestation to the Code of Ethics.
The Louisiana credential ladder
- Recognized/Credentialed Peer Support Specialist(RPSS/CPSS)Independent
The credential the Medicaid manual requires for providing peer support services, held by someone recognized by an OBH approved certification organization.
The manual requires 25 hours of documented clinical supervision both to render peer support services and, with five hours per domain, before working independently.
It is a certification, not a licence.
- Recognized Peer Supervisor(RPS)Supervisor
The supervisor who provides the required clinical supervision: at least 21 years old, currently employed with the BHS provider agency, and holding a completion certificate from an OBH approved RPS Training.
The RPS must be either an LMHP or directly supervised by an LMHP, and RPSs who are themselves RPSS/CPSS carry annual supervisor continuing-education units.
One specialist credential listed two ways, plus a supervisor credential
Section 2.3 defines peer support services as delivered by OBH recognized peer support specialists (RPSS) and credentialed peer support specialists (CPSS), with a Recognized Peer Supervisor (RPS) above them.
Every specialist must be recognized by an OBH approved certification organization, and the manual never names that organization, so the sources read cannot say which bodies qualify or whether a national consortium is involved.
Services are delivered under the administrative oversight of licensed and accredited local governing entities (LGEs) or OAAS-certified permanent supportive housing (PSH) provider agencies.
These are certifications; the manual names no state licence for peer support.
For how the mental health peer and recovery coach tracks differ, see peer support specialist vs. recovery coach.
“Must be recognized by an OBH approved certification organization”
Lived experience plus 12 months of continuous recovery
The staff qualifications put lived experience first: your own mental illness and/or substance use challenge, disorder, or condition, not a family member's.
Alongside it, the manual requires at least 12 months of continuous recovery, demonstrated by a lifestyle and decisions supporting an individual's overall wellness and recovery, which the manual describes using SAMHSA's four recovery dimensions of health, home, purpose, and community.
No waiver of either requirement appears in the section read.
An applicant documents both before an agency can employ them in the RPSS/CPSS role.
“Must have lived experience with a mental illness and/or substance use challenge, disorder, or condition”
Training: OBH-approved, built on SAMHSA's core competencies, hours not stated
Before providing peer support services, a specialist must successfully complete an LDH/OBH approved peer training program, which must be inclusive of SAMHSA's Core Competencies for Peer Workers and cover a basic set of peer support competencies.
The manual states no hour total for that training, so ask OBH or the training provider how long the approved program runs.
Staff qualifications also require age 21 and a high school diploma or GED, plus continuing education in confidentiality, HIPAA, and mandated reporting, and a signed Code of Ethics acknowledgement.
For the whole path from training to certification, see how to become a certified peer support specialist.
“Must successfully complete an LDH/OBH approved peer training program prior to providing PSS.”
25 documented hours: a gate on rendering services and on independent work
The 25 documented hours carry two provisions in the manual.
Staff qualification 5 requires every individual rendering PSS services to have received 25 hours of documented clinical Supervision in Core Competencies, a condition of rendering services at all, while the training section separately requires the same 25 hours, five hours targeting each domain, before working independently.
Mentoring is required as well, from a Recognized Peer Supervisor or an LMHP clinical supervisor, and the immediate supervisor determines whether additional supervision or mentoring is needed.
The supervision must take place in a setting where behavioral health and/or recovery and crisis support services are being provided, by qualified supervisory staff as outlined in the organization's job description.
A new specialist's first employer therefore needs an RPS in place from day one.
“The RPSS/CPSS is required to complete 25 hours of documented Recovery Support Supervision in Core Competencies, with five hours targeting each domain, prior to working independently.”
Assessments inside the training, at a minimum qualifying score
There is no separately named state examination.
The gate is built into the approved training: completion requires obtaining the minimum qualifying score or better on the required knowledge and skill assessments.
The manual does not publish the score, the assessment instrument, or a testing vendor, and the research for Louisiana records no exam detail beyond this.
A candidate who does not reach the qualifying score would not complete the training, so the training provider is the place to ask about retakes.
“Successful completion requires obtaining the minimum qualifying score or better on required knowledge and skill assessments”
Statutory background checks, and hiring consequences for the agency
Staff qualification 11 requires satisfactory completion of criminal background checks pursuant to La.
R.S.
40:1203.1 et seq., La.
R.S.
15:587 (as applicable), and any applicable state or federal law or regulation, including sexual offender registry checks under the statutory scheme.
The manual itself names no offense list, look-back period, or waiver route; the statutes govern.
Agencies must document checks before employment and cannot accept checks performed more than 90 days before the hire date, and no staff member may provide unsupervised direct care before the results are in and addressed.
Employers must also verify monthly that staff are not excluded by the OIG or on the Louisiana State Adverse Action List.
For how criminal-history rules and waivers work across certifiers, see can you become a peer specialist with a criminal record?
“Providers shall not hire individuals failing to meet criminal background check requirements and regulations.”
Medicaid covers peer support as behavioral health rehabilitative services, for members 21 and older
Peer support services are behavioral health rehabilitative services: person-centered, face-to-face, individual or group.
Members qualify at 21 or older with a mental illness and/or substance use diagnosis, meeting medical necessity, when recommended by an LMHP or physician within their scope of practice.
Members served by an OAAS-certified permanent supportive housing (PSH) provider agency must also currently receive PSH services or have transitioned from a nursing facility or been diverted from nursing facility level of care through My Choice Louisiana.
Service authorization is required for peer services exceeding 24 units of service.
Delivery runs under the administrative oversight of licensed and accredited local governing entities (LGEs) or OAAS-certified PSH provider agencies, licensed by the LDH per La.
R.S.
40:2151 et seq.; claims carry both the agency NPI and the specialist's NPI.
Ratios are one RPSS/CPSS to 25 active members; groups cap at 12.
Excluded: purely recreational, social or leisure services with no therapeutic or programmatic content, peer support that is an integral part of another covered Medicaid service, transportation, general office or clerical tasks, and meeting attendance without a documented purpose.
For how Medicaid peer billing works, see can peer support be billed to Medicaid?
“Service authorization is required for peer services exceeding 24 units of service.”
Clinical supervision by an RPS, with monthly minimums that scale to hours worked
Every RPSS/CPSS must receive regularly scheduled clinical supervision from an RPS, and an RPS must be at least 21, currently employed with the BHS provider agency, and have successfully completed an OBH approved RPS Training as evidenced by a completion certificate.
The RPS must be either an LMHP or directly supervised by an LMHP; all LMHPs supervising RPSs are required to successfully complete a state approved Peer Supervisor Training.
Minimums are four hours per month for full-time specialists, two hours for those working 21 to 32 hours a week, and one hour for fewer than 20 hours a week, at minimum twice monthly and preferably every 15 days.
A full-time supervisor shall not supervise more than seven full-time RPSS/CPSS, and no more than half the supervision may be telephonic or HIPAA-compliant video.
Texts and emails never count, and treatment-plan or team-meeting discussions do not count as supervision.
“RPSS/CPSS must receive regularly scheduled clinical supervision from an RPS. The RPS must be either an LMHP or directly supervised by an LMHP.”
Moving to Louisiana: no reciprocity route is stated, and the certifier is not named
The section read sets out no reciprocity, endorsement, or equivalency route, and the research for Louisiana records reciprocity as not stated.
Because the OBH approved certification organization is not named in the sources read, the page also cannot say whether that organization is an IC&RC member board or would accept an out-of-state peer credential.
A peer certified in another state should contact the Office of Behavioral Health before paying for Louisiana training, and should expect to meet the Louisiana-side requirements anyway: the approved training, the 25 documented supervision hours, and the annual continuing education units.
10 continuing education units a year, three in ethics, documented by December 31
Each calendar year a specialist completes 10 continuing education units approved by OBH in the tenets of peer support: at least three in ethics, and the remaining seven in principles and competencies related to those tenets.
Mandatory job trainings that are neither recovery oriented nor related to peer support do not count.
Documentation goes to OBH by December 31 each year, and an annual attestation to the Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice is also due December 31.
Supervisors who are themselves RPSS/CPSS complete 10 units in Peer Competencies annually, including a minimum of three in Peer Supervisor Ethics, plus two units in supervision.
“Documentation of completion of the 10 approved CEUs must be submitted to OBH by December 31 each year; otherwise, the RPSS/CPSS will be considered lapsed.”
The current section was issued in December 2025, replacing the February 2025 version
The Peer Support Services pages of the Behavioral Health Services manual carry an issued date of 12/16/25 and a replaced date of 02/27/25, and in this manual the replaced date is the issue date of the prior version the current text superseded.
What changed between the two versions was not identified in the sources read.
This page was checked against the 12/16/25 version on 2026-09-24.
Because Louisiana publishes the manual as a single PDF on lamedicaid.com, confirm the current version there before relying on any detail for an application.
Before day one: health screens, CPR, crisis training, and an NPI number
Beyond the background check, an agency employs a Louisiana peer specialist only after several more screens land.
The specialist needs a tuberculosis test prior to employment, with results no more than 30 days old, and drug screening per agency policy.
First aid and CPR training through an American Heart Association-recognized program is due within 90 days of hire for direct-care staff, and the organization must document completion of a state-recognized crisis intervention curriculum before any employee handles or manages crisis responses, updated annually.
Each specialist also needs an individual National Provider Identifier, which the agency includes on claims.
“Arranges for and maintains documentation that all RPSS/CPSS, prior to employment, are free from Tuberculosis (TB) in a communicable state via skin testing (or chest exam if recommended by physician) to reduce the risk of such infections in members and staff.”
What This Page Does — and Doesn’t — Cover
This page summarizes the Louisiana statute, rules, board pages and other documents cited above, as read for this state-by-state peer specialist certification series, current as of September 2026.
It does not list application forms, fees beyond those cited above, or processing times, and it is not a substitute for the instructions the Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) publishes.
Nor does it cover substance abuse counselor requirements in Louisiana.
Hour totals, exams and supervision rules change by statute and by board rule; for how the peer specialist and recovery coach credentials differ, see peer support specialist vs. recovery coach.
Confirm every requirement with the Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) before you count hours, register for an exam or apply — and before you take one of the peer support specialist jobs in Louisiana that asks for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is peer support specialist a licensed profession in Louisiana?
No. Louisiana certifies peer support specialists; the sources read name no state licence for the role.
The manual that governs Medicaid billing is the Louisiana Medicaid Behavioral Health Services Provider Manual ch. 2 §2.3, and it requires each specialist to be recognized by an OBH approved certification organization.
That certificate is what an agency needs before it can bill Medicaid for your peer support services, so confirm the credential a job posting asks for with the employer.
How many training hours do you need to be a peer support specialist in Louisiana?
The manual sets no training-hour total.
It requires successful completion of an LDH/OBH approved peer training program built on SAMHSA's Core Competencies, with at least the minimum qualifying score on the knowledge and skill assessments.
Separately, 25 hours of documented clinical supervision in the core competencies are required before you can render peer support services at all, and the same hours, five in each domain, before working independently.
Ask the Office of Behavioral Health or the approved training provider for the current training length.
Can you become a peer support specialist in Louisiana with a criminal record?
It depends on the statutes, not on the manual.
The qualifications require satisfactory completion of criminal background checks under La.
R.S.
40:1203.1 et seq. and La.
R.S.
15:587, and providers shall not hire individuals failing to meet those requirements.
The manual read names no offense list, look-back period, or waiver route, so the outcome turns on the statutes and the agency's check.
Agencies also screen against OIG exclusion and the Louisiana State Adverse Action List, monthly after hire.
Who can supervise a peer support specialist in Louisiana?
A Recognized Peer Supervisor (RPS): at least 21 years old, currently employed with the behavioral health services provider agency, and holding a completion certificate from an OBH approved RPS Training.
The RPS must be either an LMHP or someone directly supervised by an LMHP, and any LMHP supervising RPSs must complete state approved Peer Supervisor Training.
Supervision runs at least four hours monthly for full-time specialists, two for 21 to 32 hours a week, one below 20.
A full-time supervisor handles no more than seven full-time specialists; no more than half of supervision may be remote.
Does Louisiana accept peer certifications earned in other states?
The sources read state no reciprocity route.
The manual sets Louisiana-side requirements, and it never names the OBH approved certification organization, so whether that body would recognize an out-of-state credential, or whether it participates in a national reciprocity arrangement, is not stated in the sources read.
Contact the Office of Behavioral Health before enrolling in training, and plan to complete Louisiana's approved training, the 25 documented supervision hours, and the annual continuing education requirement.
More Louisiana & Peer Support Specialist Resources
Sources
Sourced from the statute, rules, board pages and other documents cited above.
Verified September 2026.
This is career information, not legal or clinical advice — confirm current rules with the Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Behavioral Health (OBH).