Cohan Council, Jalen Drayton, MacKenzie Wofford 

For those who have experienced mental health challenges, NC Youth & Family Voices Amplified (NCVA) offers a chance to lead others to healing. NCVA prepares individuals to become compassionate and effective Family Peer Support Specialists.  

Family Peer Support Specialists work closely alongside families, guiding them through their mental health journeys and providing personalized support. Unlike traditional therapists, they rely heavily on their own lived experiences combined with specialized training. Their goal is to help families find their voices and advocate for their mental health. This includes teaching families how to recognize mental health issues, make lifestyle changes that promote well-being, and cope effectively with trauma.  

NCVA trains family peers with both practical skills and theoretical knowledge, combining storytelling, advocacy, and leadership training. This comprehensive preparation allows family peers to effectively guide families, advocate for services, and build community-based support networks that complement formal mental health services. 

At the heart of NCVA’s approach is its belief in the importance of lived experience. NCVA utilizes its support specialists’ knowledge and perspective from lived experience to help youth and families in times of crisis. Lived experience is knowledge gained from experiencing similar hardship and trauma as those around you and utilizing this information to provide mental health services. Using lived experiences helps Family Peer Support Specialists connect closely with the struggles families face. Specialists have often gone through similar mental health and behavioral challenges themselves, which helps them offer meaningful guidance and support. NCVA specifically trains people who have these experiences to become certified family and youth support partners.  

Many who become family peer specialists never imagined this as a possible career path until they learned how powerful their personal stories could be in helping others. For instance, one individual stepped up to support their nephew through significant emotional and behavioral struggles. Initially offering temporary shelter, this evolved into a life-changing experience through High Fidelity Wraparound (HFW), a program partnered with NCVA. The nephew, who was once struggling with substance abuse and academic issues, transformed dramatically becoming an honor roll student and accomplished athlete. Motivated by seeing these profound changes, the caretaker became a certified Family Support Partner themselves, becoming credentialed through HFW in June 2024. 

Another individual experienced the empathy and practical support from an NCVA-trained specialist firsthand, during a challenging period. This experience was so impactful that it inspired them to become a Family Peer Support Specialist, driven by the desire to give back the kindness and help they received. With ongoing support from their mentor, they successfully navigated the certification process, highlighting the meaningful opportunities NCVA provides. 

Recognizing the power of outreach, NCVA actively utilizes social media, such as Instagram and Facebook, to reach broader communities. Although there are challenges with external communications, the organization maintains strong internal communication, supporting its workforce thoroughly. Despite this, there is still work to be done to ensure that the role and value of family and youth peers is understood in the broader community. These outreach strategies underscore the value and importance of lived experiences within the mental health community. 

Through dedicated effort, NC Youth & Family Voices Amplified addresses gaps in mental health workforce availability across North Carolina, emphasizing the critical role of family and youth peer support. By training individuals who have navigated similar experiences, NCVA ensures that peer support remains genuine, relatable, and highly effective. Ultimately, the organization’s dedication to using lived experiences fosters healthier, stronger communities throughout the state.