Youth peer support is a growing field in many mental health and child-serving systems, yet many agencies are new to supervising and supporting these roles. This line of work can often be taxing for its young employees, and self-care is just as important to supervision as job performance. During the webinar "Supervision and Self-care for Youth Peer Support Specialists," youth peer experts Caitlin Baird and Mary Beth Welch will talk about specific strategies supervisors can use to promote self-care amongst their youth peer staff while ensuring accountability to their job duties.
Mary Beth Welch is a Peer Support Training Specialist with Pathways Research and Training Center. Mary Beth uses her lived experience as a youth in the mental health system, foster care, and special education systems and a peer support specialist who worked with youth to guide her work. Mary Beth is also avid cat lover!
Caitlin Baird is a Project Manager and Trainer with Pathways RTC at Portland State University. Caitlin has experience working directly with transition aged youth and young adults as a peer support specialist and as a supervisor for peer support specialists in wraparound and other mental health settings.