Philly is working to attract more bilingual peer specialists to the behavioral health field
By Nicole Leonard, Whyy
Odalis Delgado said that for many immigrants like herself who speak Spanish and other languages, getting help with health care and other services can be difficult after moving to the United States.
Hannah Spittle (left) a bilingual learning an development specialist with Mental Health Partnership, helped train Odalis Delgado to be a certified peer support specialist. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Delgado said she had never heard of a potential resource: certified peer specialists who work in the behavioral health field and use their experiences to help others get these services and guidance.
Then, Mental Health Partnerships in Philadelphia began offering peer specialist certification courses entirely in Spanish this spring, and it caught Delgado’s attention. She enrolled to become trained and certified.
“When I saw it was in Spanish, I said, OK, I can do it,” she said.
Odalis Delgado stands in the classroom at Mental Health Partnerships in Center City where she trained to be a certified peer support specialist. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Pennsylvania behavioral health organizations like Mental Health Partnerships are looking to train more Spanish and bilingual speakers to become peer-to-peer mental health professionals after the state loosened its certification requirements for these workers earlier this year.
People no longer need proof of a high school diploma to become a certified peer specialist, which experts say was a barrier for people who grew up and attended school in other countries.
At the same time, research shows that demand for mental and behavioral health services is at an all-time high while the field faces a provider shortage.
Reggie Connell, chief operating officer at Mental Health Partnerships, said he hopes the changes in state requirements and these new training opportunities will attract more peer specialists who can better reach underserved communities and non-English speakers.
“We want to hear the person’s real words, we want to understand their real story, hear their real narrative of how they’re feeling,” Connell said. “And then we want to serve them and make sure they’re sustaining their recovery.” doctors to help bridge language barriers back home
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The Philadelphia nonprofit began offering certification training for Spanish speakers this spring in partnership with the city’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services. The two-week course is free.
Delgado, who worked as a business secretary when she lived in Venezuela, said she felt a lot more confident pursuing the training and certification because it was offered in Spanish, even though she can speak English.
“You can be more real, and you hear a lot of people talking in Spanish, so you feel comfortable,” she said. “I feel like my English is not 100 percent, so speaking Spanish, it’s better for me.”
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