Tony Mantor: Why Not Me ? - Justin Volpe : How Peer Support Changes Lives

Episode Date: May 16, 2025

Send us a text Justin Volpe shares his journey from being diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and incarcerated to becoming a certified recovery peer specialist who has trained over 3,500 police officers in crisis intervention. His story demonstrates how individuals with lived experience can transform systems and save lives by bridging gaps between law enforcement, courts, and treatment providers. • Diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in his early 20s after struggling with substance abuse • Released from jail through Miami's Jail Diversion Program, which provides support, therapy, and resources • Became a peer specialist within 8 months of incarceration, helping others navigate the system • Worked for 14 years getting thousands of people out of incarceration and connecting them to services • Describes his role as a "bridger" between systems that don't typically communicate with each other • Trained over 3,500 police officers in Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) approaches • Featured in documentaries "The Definition of Insanity" and Ken Burns' "Hiding in Plain Sight" • Now works nationally with state behavioral health teams at NASMHPD • Advocates for including people with lived experience at policy and planning tables • Emphasizes that recovery is possible: "I was written off and told I'd die on the street" Tell everyone everywhere about Why Not Me: The World, the conversations we're having and the inspiration our guests give to everyone that you are not alone in this world.   https://tonymantor.com https://Facebook.com/tonymantor https://instagram.com/tonymantor https://twitter.com/tonymantor https://youtube.com/tonymantormusic intro/outro music bed written by T. Wild Why Not Me the World music published by Mantor Music (BMI) The content on Why Not Me: Embracing Autism amd Mental Health Worldwide, including discussions on mental health, autism, and related topics, is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not reflect those of the podcast, its hosts, or affiliates.Why Not Me is not a medical or mental health professional and does not endorse or verify the accuracy, efficacy, safety of any treatments, programs, or advice discussed.Listeners should consult qualified healthcare professionals, such as licensed therapists, psychologists, or physicians, before making decisions about mental health or autism- related care.Reliance on this podcast's contents is at the listener's own risk. Why Not Me is not liable for any outcomes, financial or otherwise, resulting from actions taken based on the information provided. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to Why Not Me The World Podcast, hosted by Tony Mantor. Broadcasting from Music City, USA, Nashville, Tennessee. Join us as our guests tell us their stories. Some will make your laugh, some will make you cry. Real life people who will inspire and show that you are not alone in this world. hopefully you gain more awareness, acceptance, and a better understanding for autism around the world. Hi, I'm Tony Mantor. Welcome to Why Not Me the World, Humanity Over Hankus, the Silent Crisis Special Event.

Joining us today is Justin Volpe. He's a certified recovery peer specialist and a shining example of how individuals living with mental illness can play a vital role in collaboration. with law enforcement, service providers, and anyone in need of support. Justin has trained over 2,500 police officers through a crisis intervention team program and continues to make a national impact by helping others. He's here to share his inspiring story and wealth of knowledge. It's an honor to have him with us today. Thanks for coming on.

Yeah, thanks for having me. Oh, it's my pleasure. You're a mental health advocate. Can you tell us what led you down this path? You know, my own diagnosis when I was 22 or 23 years old really shaped that journey to want to get back to the community and help other people. Yeah, it's always great to help others. Can you give the listeners a little of your background so they can understand what led to this path that you're doing? 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. 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.

During your time of incarceration, was there a pivotal event or experience that occurred which fundamentally altered your life, compelling you to recognize the necessity of personal improvement and inspiring you to leverage the insights and knowledge you acquired? to positively impact the lives of others. 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. 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. After I got released into this outpatient treatment program, I was giving 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. 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. 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. Everyone has their own unique style when it comes to helping others. Some lean towards a more aggressive approach. Others take a gentler, more passive tact. And then there's everything in between. What was your style like? How did you go about supporting those who needed your help? And how does your help affect them? Well, 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. They don't talk to transportation. 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, 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. Well, that's a great description of what you do. I think that's going to help a lot of people understand. understand it. Now, what about CIT training? Do you do anything like that to help police navigate situations? 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. That's not a jail cell. Yeah, that's really, really good. Now, what about the communication centers? When we think of first responders, we always think about police. Yet before the police get there, you've got 911. Do you do any work with them so they can get the information needed to hopefully send a CIT-trained office?

to the scene. Have you worked with the 911 operators? 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 of what that feels like. Because without that training, they may not understand the difference between if an actual crime is happening or if somebody is experiencing a crisis. Okay. Have you ever been involved in a crisis situation where you've witnessed and assisted both the police in managing the scene and the individual in need?

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 needs are met and that they're understood completely, as well as the. the police is. So kind of like a bridger in between in that relationship to make sure everything's good and working smoothly to help that person in need. Okay, suppose you arrive at a scene where someone is experiencing psychosis and facing serious challenges? The responding police officer hasn't received CIT training yet. You're there to assist. What would your approach be? Police officers often have only seconds to react to a situation and the goal is,

to prevent it from escalating into something harmful for anyone involved. How would you de-escalate the situation, help the officer understand what you're doing, yet supporting the person in crisis so that ideally things resolve peacefully and don't take a turn for the worst? 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 bowledged for them to 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? 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. Having at the time a county or court badge when speaking to somebody else that may work for the same department and 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.

Dealing with situations like psychosis or a major meltdown in autism can be challenging. These conditions often present complex symptoms that are difficult to diagnose, especially when you only have a few minutes or seconds to assess a situation and determine the best way to manage it. so to prevent it from escalating to a situation that gets completely out of control. 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,

like if the officer is trained, have that call come in through the right path to let people know, let them know that, 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. 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 the want to serve. You know, I worked with this one officer. They were doing people's laundry on the street. 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. Yes, there are definitely a lot of good people out there are doing their jobs, and they deserve recognition as well. How does the training you provide to police officers intersect with the role of the specialist who supports individuals navigating the ongoing court process, particularly given that not all individuals involved have consistent police encounters, and considering the officers you may train may not directly correlate with those responding to specific calls?

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. 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. Okay. That makes sense. Now, do you help them when they get into the legal system, or do you help them before they get into the legal system, or do you try to do both? 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 the state. this jail diversion program. So even though they had criminal charges pending, they were given a chance to go 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 help, peer support, getting jobs, getting housing, if they were able to navigate that, the state would drop their charges. Okay. Did you ever have a situation where you was trying to, to assist someone. Yet, in spite of all your efforts, it didn't seem to click for you. The more you both tried, the more you felt it wasn't going to work. And then after some time, whatever that was, it came together. Have you ever experienced something like that? 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 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. 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. 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. Can you tell us about the company that you're working with now? I worked for an organization dubbed the acronym Nashvid, which is the National Association of state mental health program directors, long acronym. So say that three times fast. Yeah, that's a tongue twister for sure. So are you in Virginia now?

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, you know, I live a fully functional life for somebody that's been diagnosed with the illness, like schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. I have a family.

I have a home. I have two cars. You know, 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. 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 they're programming, and that they continue that when they build systems out,

that people like us are included and at the table. I think that's awesome. Now, when you first started, you was just in Miami and Dade County. Is that correct? Yes. So when you started out, you was working within the legal system, people on the street, trying to help them in that way. Now you're working with state legislators and people of that nature.

Is that correct? 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, Judge Lifeman and I started in a documentary called the definition of insanity, which is an 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. That's awesome. Documentaries are just so good. Can you expand on those documentaries a little? 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 specialist, 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. 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 they followed their stories and how

they came across the system. And it is a very powerful film. They're both very powerful films. So have you seen being in both these documentaries have had an impact on your life? Have you noticed other people looking at you, giving you more credibility because of this? 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. 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 off every day. Absolutely. And it's amazing how you've made your mark in Miami. Now that you've expanded to the national stage to help people, what do you envision for yourself over the next, let's say, three to five years, how do you see your role evolving and what changes do you hope to inspire with your work? Yeah, my lens is really just a, you know, I'd love to see more expansion on police training, people with live experience as part of those trainings. So you think about people in crisis

experiencing different things, even autism, 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 there should be other pathways and chances for people to recover. Not everybody like myself will get help to 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. Those are great points. As you said, some of those can be implemented, unfortunately,

some won't. How do we elevate this to a level where there's a stronger presence addressing the needs of not just autistic individuals or those with mental health challenges, but the entire spectrum. Mental health is a broad umbrella. It covers many different conditions. So how do we get all these entities to collaborate effectively and work with people like you who can share real lived experiences? How do we help those sitting behind deaths understand what you're trying to convey about the realities faced by people living on the streets? It really, really advocacy is involved in all of the 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 out of 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? 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. There should be some things that are common sense for all, but unique and specific to those populations being served. It's the main thing that you just brought up what you did. I was speaking with a judge from Texas just last week. He took a minute, thought a little bit, and then his answer was common sense. It just shows how important common sense is

to so many different people at so many different levels. So how do we bridge the gap and connect with people who only see the stigma? How do we reach those who haven't had the lived experiences like you have? If we can meet them on their level and show them we're all just regular people, maybe we can break through those misconceptions. So how do we get past the barriers and help them see a different, better perspective? 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. And the people in the state 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, have an 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. 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, 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? 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. Absolutely. I think that's

the most important message that we can put out there is that we need to learn and we need to adapt to each other in all our differences. We need to find a way to share your story with people. so they'll listen and learn from it. Hopefully that can help break down the stigma. Once someone hears what you've been through, the challenges you've faced, how you've overcome them, and where you are now,

they should be inspired. They should be standing in awe, welcome you, rather than casting judgment, or turning away. 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, 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. Yeah, absolutely. and to kind of further what you just said, I think one of the biggest challenges, after speaking with doctors and lawyers and judges and all the legislators, is the big unknown for people that's never dealt with anyone this autistic or has mental illness, they just get scared

by it. And unfortunately, because they can be very judgmental. I think you earlier said getting everybody at the table, I think that's a great idea. Unfortunately, some of those people that will be at that table are some of the people that I just talked about that could be very judgmental. How do we get them to be less judgmental? Because if they see what you've done and people that you've helped have done, it just shows that it can be so much better than what they think it is. We should have those family member voices at the table too, Tony, because who can 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 at a stage of my life where people don't know that I live with some of these illnesses or disorders. 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.

Yes, I totally agree with you. So in closing, what would you like to tell the listeners that you think is very important that they just need to know on what you're trying to do? 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, families. 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. 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.

Yeah, I totally agree. Well, this has been great. Great conversation, great information. I really appreciate you taking the time to come on. Thanks, Tony. I really appreciate you having me on the show. It's been my pleasure. Thanks again. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to listen to our show today. We hope that you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. If you know anyone that would like to tell us their story, send them to tonymentor.com. Contact, then they can give us their information so one day they may be a guest on our show.

One more thing we ask, tell us. everyone everywhere about why not me the world the conversations we're having and the inspiration our guests give to everyone everywhere that you are not alone in this world