Peer Support Specialist Certification in Texas: Training, Hours and Medicaid Rules
Texas certifies peer specialists; it does not license them.
The credential is defined by HHSC's Medicaid rules in 1 TAC chapter 354 and issued by the Texas Certification Board, the HHSC-approved certification entity.
You need lived experience of your own mental health or substance use recovery, core and supplemental training, and a six-month initial certificate during which you log 250 supervised work hours.
Criminal-history bars apply, with a possible exception process, and certification renews every two years.
Verify before you rely on this
At a glance
Certified Peer Specialist with a Mental Health Peer Specialist or Recovery Support Peer Specialist endorsement (a person can hold both), and the Certified Peer Specialist Supervisor.
TCB also issues the IC&RC PRSS and a Re-Entry Peer Specialist credential.
The Texas Certification Board, an IC&RC member board acting as an HHSC-approved certification entity under 1 TAC chapter 354, subchapter N.
Core and supplemental training, each ending in a knowledge assessment; the rule sets no hour total.
TCB's 2024 application requires at least 40 education hours for the Mental Health Peer Specialist.
250 hours of supervised work experience during the six-month initial certificate, then a two-year certificate.
The IC&RC PRSS requires 500 hours.
A knowledge assessment after the core and supplemental training for the Medicaid-track certificate; the IC&RC PRSS requires the IC&RC International Peer Examination.
Required: a significant life disruption due to the person's own mental health condition or substance use disorder, and now in recovery (1 TAC § 354.3003(6)).
Five offense categories with lifetime, 15-, 10-, 5- and 3-year bars; a certification entity may run an HHSC-approved exception process.
No listing on the Employee Misconduct Registry.
Covered: 1 TAC chapter 354, subchapter N sets the requirements for peer specialist services through Medicaid, in effect since January 1, 2019.
Every two years, with at least 20 hours of training including three on peer ethics, and a background check at each renewal.
The Texas credential ladder
- Certified Peer Specialist, initial certificatePre-licensure
A six-month certificate with a Mental Health Peer Specialist or Recovery Support Peer Specialist endorsement, during which the peer documents 250 hours of supervised work experience (1 TAC §§ 354.3203(f), 354.3205(b)).
- Certified Peer Specialist, two-year certificateIndependent
The full certification, issued after the 250 supervised hours, renewed every two years with 20 hours of training and a background check.
It is a certification, not a licence.
- Certified Peer Specialist SupervisorSupervisor
The supervisor certification a peer specialist's Medicaid supervisor must hold, alongside a qualifying clinical role (1 TAC § 354.3105(a)(2)).
- Peer Recovery Support Specialist and Re-Entry Peer Specialist (TCB)(PRSS)Other
Separate Texas Certification Board credentials: the IC&RC PRSS, with its own 46 education hours, 500 hours and IC&RC exam, and a Re-Entry Peer Specialist credential based on lived experience with incarceration.
One Medicaid-track certificate, two endorsements, and separate TCB credentials
The Texas certificate is the Certified Peer Specialist, endorsed as a Mental Health Peer Specialist, a Recovery Support Peer Specialist, or both.
It starts as a six-month initial certificate and becomes a two-year certificate once the supervised hours are documented, and a Certified Peer Specialist Supervisor credential sits above it.
The Texas Certification Board also issues credentials of its own, the IC&RC Peer Recovery Support Specialist and a Re-Entry Peer Specialist.
Those are TCB credentials with their own requirements, not the Medicaid-track certificate, so check which one a job posting asks for.
For how the mental health peer and recovery coach tracks differ, see peer support specialist vs. recovery coach.
“(A) Mental Health Peer Specialist; or (B) Recovery Support Peer Specialist”
Lived experience is the qualification
The rule defines lived experience as a significant life disruption caused by your own mental health condition, substance use disorder or both, and being in recovery now.
It also expects you to share your recovery story appropriately with the people you serve and to show current self-directed recovery.
The TCB applications turn that into an attestation, and the Re-Entry credential asks instead for lived experience with incarceration.
A family member's experience does not meet the rule's definition.
“Lived experience--When a person has experienced a significant life disruption due to the person's own mental health condition and/or substance use disorder and is now in recovery.”
Training: set by the certifier, not by hours in the rule
The rule requires core training and supplemental training, each ending in a knowledge assessment, but does not set an hour total.
The hour figure comes from the certifier: the Texas Certification Board's May 2024 Mental Health Peer Specialist application requires at least 40 education hours in the MHPS domains.
The IC&RC PRSS is different again, at 46 education hours split across advocacy, mentoring and education, recovery support and ethical responsibility.
For the whole path from training to certification, see how to become a certified peer support specialist.
“MHPS training requires at least 40 education hours specific to the MHPS domains”
250 supervised hours in the first six months
The initial certificate lasts six months, and in that time you must document at least 250 hours of supervised work experience; the two-year certificate follows.
That makes the first job the qualifying step, so look for an employer that can supervise under the Medicaid rule from day one.
The IC&RC PRSS counts differently and requires 500 hours.
“During the initial certification period, a peer specialist must document at least 250 hours of supervised work experience”
Knowledge assessments, and the IC&RC exam for the PRSS
For the Medicaid-track certificate the test is built into training: both the core and the supplemental training end in a knowledge assessment.
The IC&RC PRSS instead requires a passing score on the IC&RC International Peer Examination.
The rule read does not name a separate state exam.
Criminal history: five categories, fixed look-back periods, one exception route
A certification entity must deny an initial or renewal application for a conviction or community supervision in any of five offense categories: category 1 for life, category 2 within 15 years, category 3 within 10, category 4 within 5 (with an exception written into the rule) and category 5 within 3.
A certification entity may create an exception process for applicants whose history would otherwise bar them, and that process must be approved by HHSC.
Applicants must also not be listed on the Employee Misconduct Registry.
The check repeats at every renewal.
For how criminal-history rules and waivers work across certifiers, see can you become a peer specialist with a criminal record?
“A certification entity may develop an exception process for applicants with a criminal history that would require application denial”
Medicaid covers peer services, through enrolled organizations
Subchapter N exists to put peer specialists into Texas Medicaid: it sets the requirements for peer specialist services and implements the statutes that require HHSC to include peer specialists as Medicaid providers.
It took effect January 1, 2019.
Services are billed by Medicaid-enrolled organizations as the Texas Medicaid Provider Procedures Manual prescribes, not by the peer individually.
The state plan amendment type was not read.
For how Medicaid peer billing works, see can peer support be billed to Medicaid?
“establishes requirements for providing peer specialist services through Medicaid”
Who can supervise a Medicaid peer specialist, and how often
The supervisor must be a certified peer specialist supervisor and also hold a qualifying role: a qualified credentialed counselor (QCC), a licensed practitioner of the healing arts (LPHA), or a QMHP-CS or QPS who is themselves supervised by a QCC or LPHA.
Supervision is at least once weekly while you hold the initial certificate and at least once monthly on the two-year certificate.
Moving to Texas: IC&RC helps with TCB, not with the Medicaid certificate
The Texas Certification Board is an IC&RC member board, so IC&RC reciprocity is the route for the IC&RC peer credential.
A reciprocity route for the HHSC Medicaid-track certification was not located in the sources read.
If you hold a peer credential elsewhere, ask TCB whether it can be used toward the Texas certificate before you start the Texas training.
Renewal every two years
Certification renews every two years with at least 20 hours of training, three of them on the ethical responsibilities of a peer specialist, plus a background check at each renewal.
The IC&RC PRSS has its own renewal: 20 hours of peer recovery support CE including six hours of ethics.
“at least 20 hours of training each certification period, of which three hours must be related to the ethical responsibilities of a peer specialist.”
Changes 2023–2026
Section 354.3001 was amended effective April 1, 2025, updating its statutory citation to Government Code § 547.0003.
The Texas Certification Board revised its Mental Health Peer Specialist application in May 2024 and its PRSS application in February 2023.
The rule text was read on Cornell LII, which may lag the Texas Register.
What This Page Does — and Doesn’t — Cover
This page summarizes the Texas 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 Texas Certification Board (HHSC-approved peer specialist certification entity) publishes.
Nor does it cover substance abuse counselor requirements in Texas.
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 Texas Certification Board (HHSC-approved peer specialist certification entity) before you count hours, register for an exam or apply — and before you take one of the peer support specialist jobs in Texas that asks for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is peer support specialist a licensed profession in Texas?
No. Texas certifies peer specialists under HHSC's Medicaid rules in 1 TAC chapter 354, and the Texas Certification Board issues the certificate as the HHSC-approved certification entity.
There is no state licence.
The certificate is what Medicaid-enrolled organizations need to bill for peer services, so confirm the endorsement a job requires with the employer.
How many hours does Texas peer specialist certification take?
The rule sets no training-hour total; TCB's 2024 Mental Health Peer Specialist application requires at least 40 education hours.
After training you receive a six-month initial certificate and must document 250 hours of supervised work experience before the two-year certificate is issued.
The separate IC&RC PRSS takes 46 education hours and 500 hours.
Can you become a peer specialist in Texas with a criminal record?
Sometimes.
The rule bars applicants for set periods depending on the offense category, from three years to life, and requires that they not be listed on the Employee Misconduct Registry.
A certification entity may run an HHSC-approved exception process for applicants the rule would otherwise deny.
Ask the Texas Certification Board about its exception process before you apply.
Who can supervise a peer specialist in Texas?
For Medicaid services, a certified peer specialist supervisor who is also a qualified credentialed counselor or licensed practitioner of the healing arts, or a QMHP-CS or QPS supervised by one.
Supervision is weekly on the initial certificate and monthly on the two-year certificate, under 1 TAC §§ 354.3103 and 354.3105.
More Texas & Peer Support Specialist Resources
Sources
- 1 Tex. Admin. Code ch. 354, subch. N, Peer Specialist Services (Cornell LII) (retrieved 2026-09-24)
- 1 Tex. Admin. Code § 354.3205, Initial Peer Specialist Certification (Cornell LII) (retrieved 2026-09-24)
- Texas Certification Board, peer specialist applications (MHPS May 2024, PRSS Feb 2023, Re-Entry) (retrieved 2026-09-24)
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 Texas Certification Board (HHSC-approved peer specialist certification entity).