Ohio Peer Recovery Organizations

Ohio Peer Recovery Organizations, a tax-exempt nonprofit based in Columbus, Ohio, operates as a grant recipient delivering peer recovery workforce development and statewide mental health system capacity-building services to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The organization holds no federal prime contracts and operates almost entirely as a sub-recipient (90% of recent awards) flowing federal funding through the Ohio Department of Mental Health, with a small portfolio of direct prime grants from SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services.

Ohio Peer Recovery Organizations' core capability centers on peer-run organization infrastructure, peer recovery specialist workforce development, and technical assistance to consumer-operated mental health services across Ohio's 88 counties. As the prime recipient on a $150,000 Center for Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance grant (CFDA 93.532) awarded September 30, 2026, the organization is building centralized workforce infrastructure including a hub for certified peer recovery specialists transitioning into the behavioral health workforce, modernizing training curricula for certified peer recovery supervisors, and promoting SAMHSA gold-standard evidence-based training. The three-year performance period runs through September 29, 2029. The organization also held a prior $150,000 CMHS project grant (September 30, 2022, through September 29, 2025) under the same program targeting the same service population—youth ages 16–25 and adults with serious mental illness. In its technical assistance capacity, Ohio Peer Recovery Organizations currently serves 71 certified peer-run organizations across Ohio, including consumer-operated services, recovery community organizations, peer drop-in centers, and clubhouses spanning 37 of Ohio's 88 counties.

All customer funding flows through three distinct SAMHSA funding streams. The organization receives sub-recipient awards flowing through the Ohio Department of Mental Health from the Annual Mental Health Block Grant program, the State Opioid Response (SOR) 3.0 and 4.0 grants, and the SABG FY21 COVID Emergency Funding mechanism. Recent sub-awards span from May 2023 through August 2026, with cumulative obligated dollars across all twenty awards (prime and sub combined) totaling $8.3 million. Activity has remained relatively flat year over year since 2023, holding between four and five awards annually. The organization competes exclusively within federal mental health and opioid-response grant channels rather than procurement vehicles; no contract IDVs, GWACs, or BPAs appear in the portfolio.