Build a national peer support workforce — trained, certified, and employed community members with lived mental health experience providing community-based mental health support. The program professionalizes peer support, creating a career pathway and ensuring quality, without medicalizing it.

Program components: (1) National Peer Support Specialist certification — 120-hour training covering mental health first aid, recovery principles, cultural safety, and professional boundaries; (2) Employer network — government funds 50,000 Peer Support Specialist positions nationally, placed in community organizations, primary care practices, schools, and housing services; (3) Supervision infrastructure — 1 licensed mental health counselor supervises 8-10 PSS (required for quality and liability), funded as part of the program; (4) Lived experience inclusion policy — all mental health policy bodies required to include minimum 30% lived experience representation; PSS career pathway into policy advisory roles.

Economic case: PSS cost $25,000–35,000/year vs. $90,000–130,000 for clinical staff; comparable outcomes for community-level mental health maintenance. 7B in annual avoided clinical and hospitalization costs. Employment benefit: peer support jobs are inherently accessible to people with mental health histories who face barriers in traditional employment.