Daniel Schellenger

The Peer Specialist has made a significant impact on services to clients ranging from life coaching to substance use and mental health challenges, and has filled the void as someone with life experience that can help clients along their journey. Justice-involved clients are especially nuanced to even greater challenges, especially during the transition from incarceration back to the community. Though organizations exist to provide the structural components of release from jail or prison, few address the adhesive to ensure a smoother transition and continuity of support made possible by a footprint both inside the walls and in the community. This is accomplished through the use of an innovative justice-based peer specialist role that focuses on SMART goals within the eight dimensions of wellness, harm reduction, diversion, and behavioral desistance. The future of this role enmeshes sustainable solutions at every intercept point of the sequential intercept model.