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

South Carolina has one Medicaid credential, the Certified Peer Support Specialist, issued through a population split: SC SHARE provides certification for those specializing in co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, while APSC-approved organizations provide certification focusing on substance use disorders, and the manual requires that the CPSS be certified appropriately for the population served.

APSC, through its Peer Support Specialist Certification Commission, also issues the Certified Peer Recovery Specialist and the Certified Peer Supervisor.

APSC's own page frames the practical difference: the CPSS is what South Carolina treatment facilities require, and the CPRS only matters for reciprocity through IC&RC.

When a job posting says CPSS, match your certifier to the population the employer serves.

The Medicaid manual's definition is quoted below: a diagnosis of a behavioral health disorder and/or SUD under the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, treatment received for the disorder, and being in active recovery now.

The manual's staff-qualification block adds a Medicaid-side experience requirement: demonstrating recovery expertise, including one's own efforts at self-directed recovery, plus one year of active participation in a local or a national mental health and/or substance use consumer movement, evidenced by previous volunteer service or work experience.

That consumer-movement year is separate from the certifier recovery clocks.

How long you must have been in recovery depends on your certifier: SC SHARE requires two or more years in recovery, with two years of self-directed recovery documented by three professional references.

APSC requires continuous, sustained one year of Lived Recovery and Practical Experience, verified by employers or volunteer administrators.

The manual hands the edge cases to the certifiers, each responsible for judging the appropriateness of the recovery length, so keep each figure with its own certifier.

SC SHARE's class is 40 hours of intensive classroom training online, with homework as assigned and a final certification exam; classes are capped at 20, and the page lists a $32 non-refundable registration fee plus $300 tuition.

APSC requires successful completion of a 46-hour training from a South Carolina PSSCC Certified Training Center — the manual splits the 46 hours into 10 advocacy, 10 mentoring/education, 10 recovery support and 16 ethical responsibility — and its CPSS certification fee is $150 for APSC/NAADAC members, $200 for non-members.

The Medicaid manual lists 40 hours of training for the CPSS.

Both certifiers set an education floor of a high school diploma or GED, with SC SHARE accepting a final year of high school or work toward GED completion.

The Medicaid manual's eligibility list also sets an age floor: at least 18 years of age at the time of application, and SC SHARE likewise requires applicants to be at least 18 years of age.

SC SHARE requires a minimum of 100 hours of supervised, paid, or volunteer work providing peer support services, and says the requirement can be waived on a case-by-case basis; the Medicaid manual's eligibility list repeats the 100 hours and adds the waiver factors — work history, education, recovery journey or other relevant factors.

SC SHARE also requires a minimum of four hours of professional supervision, at one hour per every 25 volunteer hours.

On the APSC side, the web page asks for proof of 100 volunteer and/or paid hours as a Peer Support Specialist specific to the four domains.

The APSC manual itself lists no hour requirement for the CPSS — its 500-hour figure belongs to the CPRS — and the manual was reposted in May 2023 still carrying a 1/19/21 footer, so the web page's 100 hours appears to be the newer figure.

SC SHARE: candidates must successfully pass a written (online) exam and complete a post-course survey before CPSS certification is issued.

APSC's manual directs its approved training centers to confirm use of the SCDHHS approved Peer Support Specialist exam, and its CPSS application asks for documentation of passing that exam.

The CPRS is a different test: applicants must sit for and pass the IC&RC International Written PRS Examination, administered by a third-party company designated by the IC&RC, and the commission states no other examination is accepted.

The explicit statements run the other way: SC SHARE does not perform background checks and says criminal history has no influence on your ability to receive its training, and the Medicaid manual says past or present justice system involvement does not automatically disqualify any applicant from being considered for Certification.

The manual adds two companion disclaimers — use of prescribed medication to maintain mental health recovery does not disqualify an applicant, and neither does use of Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT) to maintain recovery.

No offense categories, look-back periods or waiver route appear in the sources read, because no bar is stated for them to waive.

An employer's own screening is a separate gate: ask any prospective employer what it checks.

Peer Support Services are a covered service in SCDHHS's Rehabilitative Behavioral Health Services Provider Manual, revised August 1, 2026, defined alongside Assertive Community Treatment and Community Integration Services.

The manual's title indicates the state-plan rehabilitative benefit; the SPA itself was not read.

Billing runs on procedure code H0038 at one unit per 15 minutes — modifier 00 for individual, HQ for group, GT for individual services via interactive telecommunication — not to exceed 16 units per day per member, with no initial prior authorization required, though after 216 units continued care requires authorization from private providers.

PSS members must be 18 or older, diagnosed with an SMI and/or SUD, and meet two or more of the manual's admission criteria as a result of the diagnosis — significant difficulty independently and consistently accessing behavioral health services, release from incarceration or discharge from a hospital or facility-based program, or severe functional impairment.

The member's plan of care determines the focus of the service.

The manual's minimum is quoted below: a certified peer support specialist with at least five years of experience providing direct service to individuals seeking recovery, or a bachelor's or master's level provider with at least three years' experience with the population served.

Around that minimum, the Peer Support Services program supervisor must contact the member within 90 days of CPSS initiation and no less than every six months thereafter, provide administrative and supportive supervision to program staff individually at least once per month, and chair staff meetings at least monthly.

The manual also folds APSC's Certified Peer Supervisor into the billing workforce: that certification is recognized as encompassing the CPSS credential, so Certified Peer Supervisors remain eligible to render PSS without maintaining their preliminary peer support certification.

SC SHARE's page points the same direction — every certified peer may only operate under the supervision of a professional as defined by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Three sources, three statements.

The Medicaid manual: presently no reciprocity exists with any other state or program for Peer Support Certification.

SC SHARE agrees from its side: prior Peer Support Certifications obtained through other agencies and states are not transferable.

The APSC manual differs: it considers reciprocity for certified peers holding a certification from a recognized authority in another state — from an IC&RC state, submit the application and fee and complete the PSSCC-approved South Carolina Medicaid webinar; from a non-IC&RC state, successfully complete the CPSS training from a PSSCC Certified Training Center.

The safe read: plan to certify fresh with the certifier matching your population, and ask APSC about its reciprocity path before you apply if you hold an IC&RC credential.

The Medicaid manual's figure is quoted below — a minimum of 20 hours of continuing education annually, at least 12 of them face-to-face, with all trainings approved by the certification entity.

That is the clock that keeps you eligible to bill.

APSC recertifies on a different schedule: all of its peer certifications run two years, and recertification takes at least 40 hours biannually — 24 as an in-person attendee, at most 16 virtual — including 12 hours of ethics, with up to 20 hours earnable for in-person training you deliver.

A one-time six-month extension is possible if requested before the certification lapses.

SC SHARE's own recertification figures were not among the sources read, so review its recertification path directly before you count hours.

The RBHS manual was revised on August 1, 2026, but the specific peer-support changes were not identified in the sources read.

The APSC CPSS manual was reposted in May 2023 still carrying its 1/19/21 footer, so its text predates the repost by more than two years, and the web page's 100-hour CPSS figure appears newer than the manual's silence.

The operative documents on this page therefore span January 2021 to August 2026 — confirm current requirements with your certifier before you apply.