Justin Volpe
Appearances
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
Really, state behavioral health... teams so it did go from a local to a national level and that is different it's not necessarily like within legislation and policy but it does touch that sometimes with the people that we work with at the states through my time at the jail diversion program
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
Judge Lifeman and I starred in a documentary called The Definition of Insanity, which is amazing if you want to talk about it a little bit later. And I was in a Ken Burns documentary on youth mental health, Hiding in Plain Sight, which also aired on PBS three years ago.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
So the definition of insanity was based on my time at the jail diversion program, which I explained to you. And it kind of encompasses that peer specialists, CIT officers and participants of the court going through the different stages of the program. And it highlights three clients going through the process and seeing their ups and downs and what it kind of entailed.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
You know, my own diagnosis when I was 22 or 23 years old really shaped that journey to want to give back to the community and help other people.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
And that was just a snapshot of kind of what our daily life was like. And then Hiding in Plain Sight was a Ken Burns film on youth mental health because the youth mental health is experiencing crisis too. And it followed about 20 to 25 people, a lot of young adults, some youth. I was 35 when they made the film. I made the cut, thank God. I don't know how I got in a youth film at 35, but...
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
They followed their stories and how they came across the system. And it is a very powerful film. They're both very powerful films.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
Yeah, absolutely. It adds credibility. It adds credibility to just stay above ground and just to live a life that as somebody with my lived experience, live a better life than some people that are more educated than me.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
They may make more money than me, but, you know, I live a good life and that shows and shines through of what this works about, about doing the next right thing and showing up every day.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
Yeah, my lens is really just that, you know, I'd love to see more expansion on police training, people with lived experience as part of those trainings. So you think about people in crisis experiencing different things, even autism experiencing
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
You know, they need to be a part of these trainings so police and first responders can really understand what it's like firsthand to experience something like that. Right. The other thing I want to see is better access to care for people, different alternatives instead of traditional health care. This is just my wish list. You know, it's not saying it's going to happen, but.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
There should be other pathways and chances for people to recover. Not everybody like myself will get help through the justice system, and we need avenues preventively that people can walk into open doors before they end up in a police car or a jail cell.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
Yeah, absolutely, Tony. I live in Miami, Florida, and at 22 or 23 years old, I was struggling with substance use and alcohol issues. I was put into a rehab, and I thought that that was my problem. But When I stayed clean off the drugs and alcohol, those problems persisted, and it ended up being a diagnosis of what is now considered schizoaffective disorder. I was hearing voices.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
It really, really advocacy is involved in all of it and that we really need to advocate for these systems to be better. And that, you know, just because we're going to throw money at a situation, we keep getting funding, funding, funding. But it seems like these problems are worse every year. So how can we... get our best bang for our buck? How can we make sure?
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
I think, you know, instead of putting out like a national initiative for everybody, it really starts, like you said, at the local community level. And every community looks different. Every state looks different. Every community within the state looks different. And there should be some things that are common sense for all, but unique and specific to those populations being served.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
You know, sometimes, you know, they say a consultant or a subject matter expert is somebody that lives, you know, in another state because there's people in your local community or state that you're hearing. They may be annoying, right? You hear the same thing. We need change. We need change. But if somebody over here says, hey, we did this. Wow, what a great idea.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
And the people in the States say, well, we've been talking about that for years. You know, so really having these people at the table. And when you look at community healing, when you look at these practices, having open forums. where discussions can be had and tensions don't have to be high to really break down those barriers. And that looks different in a lot of places.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
And, you know, I am generalizing. If you really want to reach the population you're serving, they need to be at the table, no matter what it is. And we need to really remember and get, like you said, get back to fundamentals, common sense. We need to just sit down and talk with each other and listen to each other Look at the data that backs all of it. Look at the facts. Is this working or not?
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
And if it's not, let's do something together because we're supposed to be in this together and live in a country where we should all strive.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
I think there's a lot of old myths about people that are unstable and violent. People with serious mental illness like schizophrenia and bipolar are actually more likely to be victims of crimes than actually commit them. And there's a lot of old kind of thinking around that or that people they have seen on the subway, maybe talking to themselves, not smelling well.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
And they just think that that's all of them. That's what that looks like. And that's all they are when that's just what can happen. But it's not the only pathway to healing.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
I was seeing things that weren't there. all in all while working and trying to maintain my daily life. This disorder led to a lot of turbulent times in my life and ended up being incarcerated at 23 years old in 2007 in the Miami-Dade County Jail.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
We should have those family member voices at the table, too, Tony, because who could speak more than a mother's love or a family's love for somebody that's experienced some of these difficulties? But you're right. Their stigma is a real thing. And I still encounter it. I think, you know, I'm in a stage of my life where people don't know that I live with some of these illnesses or disorders.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
And when I come and approach that I do, it shocks people. And my message can go a long way. But it's still a struggle and we need to do better to educate these people that may have biases and stigmas toward people with mental health conditions and autism. We still got more work to do. That's why we do this. That's why we keep coming back because we're not there yet.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
I want the listener to hear that anybody can recover. You know, I was written off and said to leave to dead on the street. Here I have a fully functional, great life. written off by doctors, family members, you name it. And I kept coming back. And just know that you can never count somebody out and that there's always still hope.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
And if you have that glimmer of hope and you put in the work that you can recover and you can live a great life and you deserve it and everybody deserves it.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
Well, you know, something about some mental health diagnosis is Everybody else seems to know that there's an issue, but to know inside that something's not adding up takes a level of awareness that I did not have at the time.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
But it wasn't until I went into the judicial system, I was released from court, from jail, through a court program to help people with mental health and co-occurring disorders called the Jail Diversion Program. That's where I got introduced to Judge Leifman's program.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
After I got released into this outpatient treatment program, I was given the support I needed to get back on my feet, given education, a lot of different types of therapy, and access to resources I didn't have before. After I started to take this recovery journey, I started to feel better. And then within eight months of being incarcerated, I was given an opportunity to become a peer specialist.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
A peer specialist is somebody with lived experience in the jail diversion program. So As soon as I got it and understood what I had to do to maintain, I was given the opportunity to give service to others being released from the justice system.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
And I did that for 14 years, Tony, and I got thousands of people out of incarceration to help them get back on their feet and stay out of places like the streets and the hospitals and the jails by trying things a different way.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
A peer specialist and a peer role is really a mutual understanding that you have with the people that you're working with. So The unique style that I really had to do was become a bridger in the community. So many different people don't talk to each other. The jails and the courts don't talk to the treatment providers. They don't talk to the housing providers.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
They don't talk to transportation providers. And a peer specialist, my role was to really get everybody on the same page and hustle out there on the street every day because I didn't work in the office. I was on the street hustling for people to keep them out of these systems. And some of that was having open lines of communication, showing up for people to doctor's appointments.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
bringing them to court, getting them clothes, getting them food, getting them transportation, all in their wellness journey to actually avoid a justice system where that would not help get them better.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
Yeah, thanks for mentioning that. I do CIT training. I've trained over 3,500 police officers in Miami-Dade County, and that training would help keep somebody out of the justice system altogether at first. So if a police officer received that training, they should, if they spot somebody in crisis, be able to de-escalate them and not arrest them and get them to the proper resources if needed.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
That's not a jail cell.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
A little bit. I've done some training with the mobile crisis teams that would actually respond other than police if a call comes into a crisis line. And we've done some training with 911 operators so they can help distinguish a call that may be someone in crisis so they know the kind of vibe or what that feels like.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
Because without that training, they may not understand the difference between if an actual crime is happening or if somebody is experiencing a crisis.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
I have been involved in a lot of crisis situations in the community, like you just explained. And my biggest thing is communication, making sure the person being served speaks. needs are met and that they're understood completely, as well as the police's. So kind of like a bridger in between in that relationship to make sure everything's good and working smoothly to help the person in need.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
You know, life's all about relationships, right? So even if somebody was not trained properly and they were a participant in the jail diversion program at the time, I was able to stand up for them and vouch for them and say, hey, I'm a court employee. This person is working with us. Kind of like, they're okay, you know, what's the problem?
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
Let's talk about this and even, you know, make an excuse for the person if they're not doing well. Like, oh, you know, something happened. But it's all about education and relationships.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
Having, at the time, a county or court badge when speaking to somebody else that may work for the same department in the police goes a long way on the street than just somebody else that they may not recognize or be able to relate to in that situation.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
The biggest thing, which is kind of the opposite of the way officers are taught to respond immediately to things, and they have that triggered stress of responding to calls all day and they're ready to go, is really to take a step back and helping have clear communications.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
Like, if the officer is trained, have that call come in through the right path to let people know, let them know, like, you know, this... person may be experiencing crisis or a difficult time right now, to really approach them differently. And I've seen officers really strive with this. We know so much is going wrong in so many of these encounters nationally, and it's just not right.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
And there's good police officers caught on the other side of that, too, that I've worked with that are more effective than some social workers that I've worked with. So it really depends on the person responding to these calls and their education and their the want to serve. You know, I worked with this one officer. They were doing people's laundry on the street.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
They were helping them with their laundry, helping them get to the appointments, you know, incredible stuff that you don't hear about. Then, unfortunately, you'll see somebody that's not trained well or at all and respond to somebody in crisis. And they're the ones that make the news.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
Well, let me just clarify a few things. So my job as a peer specialist was to support people in the ongoing court process. Not everybody had a police encounter all the time, but it did happen from time to time. The training I do with police is off hours, right, to do the training separately.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
So that may not be a direct correlation between the officers I'm able to work with on the training to some of these calls.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
Both, because it's really about education. And I don't work there anymore. I work for a national mental health agency that's in Arlington, Virginia now, but I continue to do CIT training as a volunteer with officers. But when I worked for the court for 14 years, everybody had agreed voluntarily to be a part of this jail diversion program.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
So even though they had criminal charges pending, they were given a chance to go on an alternate route to get some help. to get the state attorney to drop the charges. So if they successfully completed this program, which involved community treatment and health peer support, getting jobs, getting housing, if they were able to navigate that, the state would drop their charges.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
absolutely you see you have to meet people where they're at and with peer support you're not forcing this approach on them because it's really up to the person to want to make that change and unfortunately as we know some people don't get to make that change right because what i've seen in my experience of getting thousands of people
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
out of jail for almost 15 years is that people do get incarcerated they do live on the streets and sometimes they do die and that is a harsh reality that i have to tell you that just because they were involved in this program it wasn't a miracle either but there were people that did come back multiple times and i saw people get help multiple times
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
So that means they were arrested multiple times, given multiple chance at this program, and then finally be able to receive some help. One gentleman was able to close out multiple felonies, go back to school, get sober in a recovery program and work again and not be involved with the justice system for, I think it's been at least 10 years now. So that's an accomplishment.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
You know, you look at recidivism, You know, you can't expect people to maybe like become doctors and lawyers. They should and they can. But what I look at as a win is staying off the street, staying out of incarceration, living some sort of meaningful life that matters to the person.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
I work for an organization dubbed the acronym NASHPD, which is the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. Long acronym. So say that three times fast.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
I'm in Miami, Florida. I work remotely and I work with states now. I use all that experience that I learned from working in Miami on the streets and my own personal experience of recovery, which by the way, I live a fully functional life. For somebody that's been diagnosed with an illness like schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, I have a family, I have a home, I have two cars.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
I live a life that Before in this country, if you got a diagnosis, it was a death sentence basically to have or a life of institutions.
Tony Mantor: Why Not Me the World
Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives
But my job now is really to work with states and territories and their behavioral health teams and to really advocate for people with lived experience like myself and other people in different aspects of their community, that they're a part of their states and their programming and that they continue that when they build systems out, that people like us are included and at the table.