PARfessionals

Background

In 2011, PARfessionals was established by 32-year-old Jorea M. Kelley-Hardison, a consumer peer with lived and professional experience while she completed an internship at MHMR of Tarrant County in Fort Worth, TX. After experiencing discriminatory and biased treatment, both personally and professionally, the founder felt that a sincere effort needed to be made to reduce stigma and discrimination faced by peers and their families in the community and workplace.

She is in dual recovery from mental illness and behavioral addiction. She is a former ex-offender from the Federal Bureau of Prisons where she was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) located in Tallahassee, Florida. After spending 10 months in solitary confinement, she was later transferred to FCI Danbury.

While on federal supervised release with the U.S. Probation Office, Kelley-Hardison became a client of The Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, or DARS. Kelley-Hardison credits the state agency for assisting her with the job training, travel and other needed supplies after she was released from federal prison.

Upon her release from federal prison she self-published the book “Getting Ahead: An Ex-Offenders Guide to Getting Ahead in Today’s Society”, where she encourages ex-offenders to participate in clinical research trials. She is also mentioned in Dr. Jon Marc Taylor’s book “Prisoners' Guerrilla Handbook to Correspondence Programs in the United States and Canada,” published by Prison Legal News in 2008.

Jorea Kelley-Hardison was taking classes to become a Clinical Research Coordinator (CRC) before she decided to transition into the addiction industry to become an Addictions Counselor in 2009. Around that time, she received her CCJP – a status from the Texas Certification Board of Addiction Professionals (TCBAP) and has been granted numerous credentials from the board, including the Peer Recovery Specialist (PRS), Peer Mentor/Peer Recovery Coach (PM-PRC) and the Associate Prevention Specialist (APS) credentials, but has since retired those credentials.

Jorea Kelley-Hardison earned a B.S. degree in Management in 2009 and has completed degree requirements in order to graduate with a M.A. in Criminal Justice from the American (Military) Public University System. She has also earned a graduate certificate in Applied Forensic Psychology Services from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. In addition, she has obtained certificates in mental health, nonprofit management, applied forensic psychology services, family and business mediation, substance abuse, as well as emergency management. In addition, she has received training throughout the years in various important topics such as rape/domestic violence crisis intervention, hospice, and health unit coordination from various organizations and colleges including Parkland Health & Hospital System, Brookhaven College and Richland College.

She is currently a member of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, NAADAC- The Association of Addiction Professionals, National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals, National Association of Health Unit Coordinators, Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association and the International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology.

History

In 2011, the word " PARfessionals" was created by the company's founder.

In 2012, PARfessionals decided to develop the first peer-based ONLINE recovery coach training program designed for those interested in mentoring individuals into and through long-term recovery from co-occurring disorders and other addictions and addictive behaviors.

In 2013, PARfessionals developed the first Peer Recovery/Addiction Recovery Coach Study Guide, a free Peer Recovery/Addiction Recovery Coach Curriculum Guide, a free Peer Recovery/Addiction Recovery Coach Practicum Guide and a online Peer Recovery/Addiction Recovery Coach Train the Trainers course. Additionally, Kelley-Hardison family, The SJM Group, applied for an ACE college credit review with The American Council On Education and then to Distance Education Accreditation Council (DEAC) in August 2015. After being rejected by DEAC, the family contacted Charter State Oak College who in November 2015 about their program being recognized for college credit under their college assessment program.

In 2014, PARfessionals developed the first free Peer Recovery Support Specialist/Addiction Recovery Coach classroom curriculum kits in addition to a home study course, a correctional correspondence course for inmates, research journal, universal Code of Ethics and an international certification board. Additionally, the SJM Family created their own private virtual research institute, the Powell Leary Jacobs (PLJ) Multicultural Institute for Transformation Research in Addictions, to self-fund and release free resources on Peer Recovery and Prevention.

From 2013-2014, PARfessionals, L3C and its parent organization, the SJM Family Foundation provided seven scholarships for eligible candidates from the general public who were devoted to seeking training for addiction treatment and peer recovery services.

Kelley-Hardison along her family, also established the International Certification Board of Recovery Professionals (ICBRP), the first ever, peer-run certification board created for peer recovery professionals in the world. The SJM later dissolved the International Certification Board of Recovery Professionals (ICBRP) and re-emerged as PARfessionals, LLC, a limited liability company. The ICBRP is now an independent, informal ad-hoc advisory board that provides guidance and accountability for the National Certified Peer Recovery Professionals (NCPRP) credentialing program to the SJM Family.

As of March 2017, Kelley-Hardison has successfully worked with dozens of licensed professional clinicians and medical staff worldwide to create 45+ PARfessionals' branded resources, including Peer Recovery Practicum Guide, a Peer Recovery Pre-Certification Review e-Course. a Peer Recovery Supervision Training Course, and Peer Recovery classroom curriculum kits.

Additionally, she partners with several app developers and her sibling's companies, The SJM Group, TaylorMade Life Resources and Kingdom Reach Technologies to develop free Behavioral Health educational apps and games for the Addiction Peer Workforce.

In order to accomplish the company's goals, Kelley-Hardison, along with the SJM Family, hired no employees, working as volunteers using their own money, and collaborating with a group of freelancers from across the world that had acquired degrees, held additional credentials and had significant work experience in their own respective fields.

The Definition of “Peer Recovery”

The term peer recovery can be first defined through PARfessionals as “the process of giving and receiving encouragement and assistance to achieve long-term recovery. Peers offer emotional support, share knowledge, teaches skills, provide practical assistance, and connect people with resources, opportunities, communities of support, and other people”.

The Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC) provides a different definition of recovery. According to William White, MA, “recovery is the experience… through which individuals, families, and communities impacted by severe alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems utilize internal and external resources to voluntarily resolve these problems, heal the wounds inflicted by AOD related problems, actively manage their continued vulnerability to such problems, and develop a healthy, productive, and meaningful life”.

The International Certification & Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC) states that “peer recovery is experiencing rapid growth, whether it is provided by a peer recovery coach, peer recovery support specialist, or peer recovery mentor. Peer support services - advocating, mentoring, educating, and navigating systems – are becoming an important component in recovery oriented systems of care”.

Academics

In 2012, PARfessionals developed the first globally recognized online training program for peer recovery professionals. As of September 2015, PARfessionals offers an online distance learning pre-certification training course, a home study correspondence course and an inmate correspondence course for student-candidates to study at their own pace for global certification in peer recovery. The curriculum is based on proven research in order to make it the most specialized and comprehensive training program for a new generation of Peer Recovery Professionals for a variety of settings.

Certified Peer Navigator Micro-Certification Program

Under the direction of its Founder/CEO, PARfessionals developed and administered the NCPRP exam and credential. NCPRP stands for “National Certified Peer Recovery Professional”.

The NCPRP credential and exam primarily emphasize the concept of peer recovery, with the main purpose of providing guidance, knowledge or assistance, especially among those with similar experiences who can meet as equals.

In 2016, the certification was renamed Certified Peer Navigator Program, a globally recognized voluntary competency based credential that features:

Peer Recovery Facilitator Development e-Course

PARfessionals designed a Peer Recovery Facilitator Development e-Course in an effort to support the ongoing efforts of social service agencies, foundations, government agencies, and employers worldwide. This course would also work towards the development of community re-entry programs for inmates and workforce development skills for disadvantaged individuals such as ex-offenders, disabled individuals, low-income communities and minorities.

It was developed in collaboration with post-secondary educators and coaching experts for a diverse population with an array of learning skills who may be teaching, employing or supporting those who may be inmates, ex-offenders, mental health consumers, recovering addicts and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It provides adult-oriented learning strategies for a diverse group of individuals with different learning abilities.

The online Peer Recovery Facilitator Development e-Course was officially approved in 2014, by the Association for Addiction Professionals, also known as NAADAC.

Approvals

The PARfessionals pre-certification training course has been approved by many states, national and international professional associations and state boards. Please visit the Approvals page for further information.