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Certified Peer Specialist project
continuing education

Maintaining Active Certification

 

After successful completion of the CPS examination, a CPS is required to have a minimum of 12 continuing education units (CEUs) per calendar year that meet the following guidelines:

  • 6 CEUs from a GMHCN sponsored training, webinar, event or conference*

  • 6 CEUs from a GMHCN approved vendor*

  • 1 Peer Ethics Training Annually

​*Please note that all 12 CEUs can come from a GMHCN sponsored training, webinar, event or conference
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For example:  If a CPS passed the certification exam at any time in 2022, CEUs begin accruing in January 2023.  Twelve CEUs must be acquired by December 31, 2023.  The cycle will then repeat, beginning in January 2024.  Additional CEUs over the required 12 hours are not transferable to the following year.

 

 

Submitting CEU Documentation for Certification Renewal

All CPS-MH must submit their CEU documentation via JotForm through the CEU Online Portal. GMHCN will not accept CEUs submitted in any other format. CPS-MH may submit documentation for CEUs during the open submission period, which runs from December 1st through February 28th*

 

*It is important to note that all CEUs are due by December 31st, however GMHCN offers the following grace periods:

  • December 1st through January 15th: No Late Fee

  • January 16th through February 28th: $26 Late Fee

  • After February 28th: CPS will go into in-active status

 

To learn more about the renewal process, please read our Renewal Policy. 

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​CEU Online Portal: Open for 2024 CEU Submissions

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GMHCN and other providers of Georgia Certified Peer Specialist trainings are required to report the Active/Inactive status of Certified Peer Specialists to the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. 

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Training Opportunities

 

GMCHCN Training Resources:

GMHCN offers a diverse range of trainings designed to enhance peer support skills, professional development, and community engagement. Our interactive sessions provide hands-on learning, valuable networking opportunities, and practical tools to support individuals in their peer support roles, GMHCN offers the following Training Opportunities . 

 

  • Georgia Peer Support Institute

  • Listen-Empathize-Agree-Partner® (LEAP)

  • Mental Health First Aid

  • Ready for Reentry

  • RESPECT Institute of Georgia

  • Trauma Informed Care

  • Wellness Recovery Action Plan

  • Whole Health Action Management (WHAM)

  • Online Webinars

    • To attend an online webinar, participants must pre-register and sign in using their registered name and email address to receive credit. Full attendance is required, as partial credit will not be given. All CEUs will be processed within 30 business days.

    • If you are unable to attend the live session, a recorded version will be available online within 24 hours. Participants who watch the recording must view the entire video and successfully pass the test to earn credit. Recordings will remain accessible for 28 days, and CEUs will be issued within 30 business days after the recording expires.

For more details on these trainings, visit our Training Page.

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Other CPS Trainings and Certifications with CEU Credit:

 

Online Resources/Webinars:

Certified Peer Specialists can also attend webinars and receive CEUs from a range of national websites.  CEUs for webinars are hour equivalencies - e.g. - 1 hour = 1 CEU; 1.5 hours=1.5 CEUs.  

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Acceptable webinars must be recovery oriented, which means that they focus on topics of wellness, holistic approaches to recovery, strengths-based perspectives, community resource linking, person-centered treatment, and so forth. Unacceptable webinars include those that focus on strictly clinical topics such as the DSM-5, diagnosis, clinical assessments, psychiatric treatment modalities, etc..

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Approved training organizations that frequently provide CEU opportunities that are recovery-oriented include:

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*Not all Relias Online Learning Modules are eligible to receive credit. (Review and prior approval of specific modules is required. Relias may require a paid membership/subscription in order to receive CEU certificates.
 

t Please note that not all webinars on these websites meet the above criteria. Please review the webinar content prior to participating, and verify that it meets the CPS Project criteria. Please contact the CPS Project at ceu@gmhcn.org with any questions.

 

To register for upcoming CEU webinars or to watch past webinars, please visit our Upcoming CEU Opportunities Page.  Click here for more information. 
 

Trainings from other vendors or sponsoring agencies, not listed on this page, must be approved by the CEU coordinator and the Chief Training Officer.  Please submit training from outside vendors for approval through our CEU Approval Request Portal.

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CPS-MH Certification Verification for Employers

Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network (GMHCN) is committed to upholding the professional standards set forth by the State of Georgia and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, pertaining to the credentialing and renewal process for Certified Peer Specialist Mental Health. ​All verification requests must be submitted online via JotForm through our CPS Verification Portal.   In order to create a more efficient processing method pertaining to CEU verifications and CPS certification, please review our verification and fee policy.

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IMPORTANT FOR ALL CERTIFIED PEER SPECIALISTS

Georgia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, the agency that provides funding for the Certified Peer Specialist Project, is creating a database of all Certified Peer Specialists across the state, and they have asked us to provide them with updated information for all Certified Peer Specialists, including date of birth. Depending on when you completed your training and certification, the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network may not have your date of birth and current contact information (including mailing address and working phone number) on file.

 

It is very important that we be able to provide DBHDD this information as soon as possible. Please click here to update your CPS information, including your date of birth, at your earliest convenience.

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