In Michigan, transformation and healing are taking root in unexpected places; behind prison walls and beyond.
The Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) is championing recovery by integrating Peer Recovery Coaches into its framework, connecting individuals to lasting change and renewed purpose.
In a rare sentence I have uttered only once before: Well done, Michigan DOC. Well done.
I am so excited to see this program grow, and today, I am going to break it down.
What is A Peer Recovery Coach?
A Peer Recovery Coach is someone who has walked the path of recovery themselves.
They are typically trained in a 40-hour curriculum modeled on the CCAR (Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery) program to support others navigating substance use disorders through a non‑clinical, empathetic approach. They help individuals locate community resources, plan recovery wellness, apply motivational interviewing techniques, set boundaries, practice self-care, and recognize many paths to recovery.
Peer coaches differ from Peer Recovery Associates, who receive lighter, organization-specific training and provide support in a narrower scope, usually under a coach’s supervision.
Peer Recovery Coaching in Michigan Prisons
As outlined in the MDOC’s FY 2026 budget overview, approximately 250 incarcerated individuals will be trained to serve as Peer Recovery Coaches in Michigan prisons. This initiative represents a leap toward rehabilitation and human-centered corrections, offering those in recovery a meaningful role as they help others rewrite their stories.
Why This Matters
Empathy Meets Opportunity: Coaches share lived experience with addiction and recovery—transforming personal journeys into tools that guide others. That authenticity fosters genuine connection and inspires trust.
Promoting a Recovery-Oriented System of Care (ROSC): By embedding peer support in corrections, Michigan is advancing a ROSC model, where recovery isn’t just treatment, but community, support, and real-world reinforcement.
Ripple Effects of Empowerment: Coaching gives incarcerated individuals a sense of purpose and contribution. It nurtures leadership, reduces stigma, and helps forge recovery paths that benefit both individual coaches and those they mentor.
Beyond Prisons: The Broader Landscape
Michigan is not just expanding peer coaching in corrections; it’s growing across healthcare and public health, too:
Hospital-Based Programs: Thanks to FY 2025 state budget support, peer recovery coaches are beginning to serve in hospital settings, providing critical support to individuals after overdoses or during care transitions.
Integrated Medicaid Services: MDHHS has broadened its Substance Use Disorder Health Home initiative to include alcohol and stimulant use disorders. Peer coaches are central to these health homes, helping coordinate care with attention, compassion, and lived insight.
What’s at the Heart of Recovery Coaching?
Recovery coaching stands out as non‑clinical, strengths-based support. Coaches don’t treat or diagnose; instead, they meet individuals “where they are,” offering accountability, encouragement, and the tools needed to build and sustain recovery. The aim is not just sobriety, but cultivating a meaningful life filled with purpose, community, and resilience.
Wrapping it Up
Michigan’s embrace of Peer Recovery Coaches from its prisons to hospitals and Medicaid services, is more than a policy shift. It’s a testament to recovery’s power, peer-to-peer compassion, and the belief that those who’ve walked a path can guide others forward.
By investing in 250 prison-based coaches, anchoring hospital-based support, and embedding recovery into Medicaid services, Michigan is building an ecosystem where recovery is lived, shared, and championed.
Recovery is not a solitary journey; it’s a shared path.
Know of any other forces of good in the reentry space? Tell us all about it here.
