Mental health services: peer support specialist certification.

Section 2 of the bill was removed in its entirety. This section had amended Section 18998 to add 'peer support specialists' to the definition of community health worker and added a provision deeming certified peer support specialists as having satisfied all education and training requirements for community health worker certification under Section 18998.1.

The act's stated purpose narrowed from amending three code sections (18998, 18998.1, and 14045.15) relating to both public health and Medi-Cal, to amending only Section 14045.15 relating solely to Medi-Cal.

The definitions section (Section 18998) that would have defined terms like 'community-defined,' 'community health worker,' 'core competencies,' 'cultural competence,' 'lived experience,' and 'specialty certificate' was removed from the bill.

A new Section 1 was added amending Welfare and Institutions Code Section 14045.15, which governs peer support specialist certification under Medi-Cal. The bill previously only addressed community health worker definitions and certification (Sections 18998 and 18998.1).

The bill's title and digest were updated to reflect the dual focus on community health workers and mental health services peer support specialist certification, and the legislative counsel digest was substantially rewritten to describe both areas of impact.

The requirement that a peer support specialist applicant possess a high school diploma or equivalent degree is removed from Section 14045.15, lowering the educational barrier to certification.

The fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now carries a fiscal impact requiring committee review, likely due to the expanded scope affecting Medi-Cal program administration.

A certified peer support specialist (as defined in Section 14045.10) is now automatically deemed to have met all education and training requirements for community health worker certification, without needing additional coursework or training.

The bill now amends both Section 18998 and Section 18998.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, rather than only Section 18998 as introduced.

Section 18998.1 is restructured to add specific sub-requirements for the department when developing CHW certificate program standards, including consulting evidence-based and community-defined materials, determining curriculum, setting specialty certificate criteria, creating oversight structures that reduce training barriers, and establishing pathways for past experience to count toward certification.

The fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the amendment introduces potential state fiscal impact requiring fiscal analysis.