My son, Bryan Eric Smith, was taken from us forever in 2018. I came from generational trauma and at the time Bryan started to have behavioral issues I was encouraged to involve him in the juvenile justice system. If our family had the option of working  with a peer with lived experience in systems I believe our outcome would have been much different. Peer Suport is a cost effective, recovery based, trauma informed approach that works. Any publicity funded mental health services should offer the option of peer support. Peer support has been shown to decrease things like hospital stays which are astronomical medical expenses. I became certified as a peer support specialist in the State of Michigan in 2012 and it has been the single most impactful part of my own mental health recovery. I don't know that I would have survived burying my son without the skills and relationships peer support helped me build. Too large a peice of mental health budgets go to feel good programs while suicide rates keep climbing. Peer support works- it should be an option whenever tax dollars are paying the bills.