NM becomes among 1st states to train peer support workers in prisons
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham
Cabinet Secretary Alisha Tafoya Lucero
Deputy Secretary Melanie Martinez
Deputy Secretary Gary Maciel
Director of Reentry Byron Brown
Michelle Lujan Grisham, Governor
Kari Armijo, Secretary
Alex Castillo Smith, Deputy Secretary
Kathy Slater-Huff, Deputy Secretary
Dana Flannery, Medicaid Director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Mexico Health Care Authority
Contact: Marina Piña
marina.pina@hca.nm.gov
New Mexico Corrections Department
Contact: Brittany Roembach
brittany.roembach@cd.nm.gov
August 12, 2025
NM becomes among 1st states to train peer support workers in prisons
Nine incarcerated individuals to take certification exam August 13
SANTA FE — In a new cross-agency partnership, nine incarcerated individuals are poised to become certified peer support workers trained inside correctional facilities, when they take their certification exam on Aug. 13.
A Certified Peer Support Worker (CPSW) is someone who has experienced long-term recovery from mental health and/or substance use conditions and is trained to help others in their recovery. The nine individuals completed the inaugural Certified Support Worker training program in July at the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Grants and will be overseen by New Mexico Credentialing Board of Behavioral Health Professionals for certification.
“No one can guide recovery like someone who’s lived it,” said Nick Boukas, director of the Behavioral Health Services Division at the New Mexico Health Care Authority. “Training certified peer support workers in New Mexico’s prisons and jails transforms lived experience into a lifeline for others going through the same struggles.”
The training is a partnership between Health Care Authority’s Office of Peer Recovery & Engagement and the New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD), making New Mexico among the few states offering CPSW training and certification inside correctional facilities.
“This partnership is a powerful example of what can happen when behavioral health and corrections come together,” said Byron Brown, director of the New Mexico Corrections Department Reentry Division. “We’re proud to support a model that centers recovery, dignity, and opportunity.”
The program integrates recovery support into correctional facilities while expanding New Mexico’s behavioral health workforce. Additional trainings are planned in prisons and jails across the state in the coming months to prepare more incarcerated individuals to serve as peer support workers.
The Health Care Authority and NMCD have partnered through an intergovernmental service agreement to offer these trainings, modeled after the state’s existing CPSW curriculum.
To learn more about the state’s CPSW training program, visit nmrecovery.org.
Generic NMCD classroom b-roll (Password: NMCDbroll): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/nskv2yiavnd5ots3tytet/AJGKwmvcgaWXOOgqy8Kk8_o?rlkey=1dwjskn575qkowf3szdx13vij&st=0m84ldrj&dl=0
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