A new state-funded initiative to grow New York’s youth and family peer advocate workforce will directly impact Ontario County, thanks to a local partnership led by the Mental Health Association of Rochester/Monroe County.
The organization is one of 10 across the state receiving $275,000 grants from the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) to recruit, train, and place individuals with lived behavioral health experience into peer advocate roles. Their coverage area includes Ontario, Monroe, and Livingston counties.
The goal: bring at least 150 new youth and family peer advocates into the workforce statewide. These trained advocates will support others facing mental health challenges—especially in historically underserved communities—by sharing their own experiences and helping navigate care systems.
State officials say the effort comes at a time of growing need.
“Family and youth advocates can relate to the emotional struggle so many New Yorkers experience as they begin the path to recovery,” said OMH Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan. “Recruiting and training them will help us fill an increasing need.”
Peer advocates serve in schools, crisis centers, outpatient programs, and more. Youth advocates are between 18 and 30 with lived experience of behavioral or emotional challenges. Family advocates are parents or caregivers who’ve supported a child through the mental health system.
Each organization in the program, including MHA Rochester/Monroe, must place at least 15 new advocates. Stipends and credentialing bonuses are built into the program to help draw participants into the growing field.
The state says it’s also expanding its mental health workforce through loan repayment incentives, apprenticeships, and new paraprofessional credentials to meet rising demand for youth services.
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