Module 3 - Unit 7: Supervising House Managers
Peers & House Managers
As we discussed in Module 2, peer support specialists and house managers play an integral role for the support and success of clients in recovery homes.
Types of Support Provided
- Emotional: showing empathy and concern for clients
- Informational: sharing wisdom and providing connections to resources that support recovery
- Instrumental: facilitating concrete support such as housing, employment, or meeting other basic needs
- Affiliation: helping clients build relationships within their communities to support recovery and connection
Source: SAMHSA 2017
Peer Competencies
Activity: Read the full description of each principle here on page 3 (SAMHSA, 2018). How can you support the growth and development of your house managers in each of these areas?
SAMHSA (2022) core competencies to help guide peers in their skill building, development, and the important work they do. The Principles of Core Competencies listed to the right reflect the foundations for these competencies. They were created by those with lived experience with substance use and mental illness.
Supervising House Managers
Supervision is a learned and practiced skill, just like any other skill.
Take the Supervisor of Peer Workers Self-Assessment to “help you reflect on your own supervision practice and identify areas you’d like to become a more effective supervisor of peer workers”
Challenges & Need for Support
House managers face the following challenges when fulfilling their roles within recovery homes:
- Expectations and roles for house managers vary across recovery homes
- Roles and expectations are not always well defined or understood within a recovery home
- There is a lack of consistent training and best practices for house managers within recovery homes. This makes support and training from homeowners all the more important.
