Refocus Recovery and the Complex Future of Peer Support in Minnesota | Addiction
A Personal Reflection on Ethics, Growth, and Hard Lessons
In 2019, Minnesota faced a mounting public health crisis. Substance use was rising, overdose deaths were climbing, and the state’s treatment systems were overwhelmed. Traditional healthcare struggled to keep up. Amid this chaos, one solution began gaining momentum: Peer recovery support offering guidance and encouragement from people who had lived through addiction and found a way out.
Peer support offered something many systems couldn’t: Empathy rooted in experience.
I joined Refocus Recovery in early 2023 with a clear mission—expand training and strengthen the peer workforce across the state. We launched an ambitious initiative offering free training to become a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist (CPRS). At the time, most other programs charged $600 to $900, making them inaccessible to many. Our free model sparked immediate demand, with new trainees signing up in droves.
To support these peers after training, Refocus Recovery partnered with Kyros Care, a tech-driven healthcare company focused on addiction recovery. Kyros Care helped manage hiring, placement, and supervision of certified peers. On paper, the partnership made sense. But as we soon discovered, the reality was far more complicated.
A Promising Start
Throughout 2023, Refocus Recovery grew quickly. Trainees completed certification, gained confidence, and began working in the field. Watching people in recovery become professionals who helped others was deeply fulfilling.
Our training program evolved into a broader movement. We were building a statewide peer workforce, reaching underserved rural areas and supporting people often left behind by traditional systems. It was exciting, inspiring, and full of potential.
Warning Signs
But by mid-2023, warning signs began to emerge.
At first, concerns about peer conduct seemed like isolated incidents. Then more concerns surfaced: Questionable billing practices, incomplete documentation, and services billed that weren’t allowed under state policy. Kyros Care responded by investing in compliance tools and supervision. When misconduct was discovered, action was taken, up to and including termination.
Still, the problems persisted.
The Breaking Point
Even in its end, Refocus Recovery played a vital role in pushing Minnesota’s recovery system forward.In December 2023, everything changed. Media reports accused Refocus Recovery of being a “shell company” and alleged Medicaid fraud linked to Kyros Care. Even though we had already returned funds billed in error and tightened oversight, the damage was done. Our reputation unraveled almost overnight.
Peers were targeted with harassment and threats. Some opponents worked to discredit us and dismantle our work. Despite this, we pressed on—improving training, enforcing ethics, and continuing to offer our services at no cost.
But the scrutiny didn’t fade. And the weight became too much.
The End of Refocus
By September 2024, the Minnesota Department of Human Services suspended our billing privileges. No detailed evidence. No due process. No transition period.
Hundreds of peer specialists lost their jobs. Thousands of clients lost support. But in the face of the crisis, Minnesota’s recovery community responded. Other Recovery Community Organizations (RCOs) stepped in, absorbing displaced peers and clients, showing resilience even as Refocus Recovery fell.
Personally, the fallout was devastating. I faced harassment, threats—even stalking. Some peers in the field celebrated our collapse. That hurt. But worse was watching something we built with so much hope and purpose come to an end.
What We Leave Behind
And yet—I’m proud.
Refocus Recovery helped train thousands of peer specialists. We reached communities that desperately needed support. We helped people find purpose after addiction. We sparked legislative reforms that raised standards, clarified roles, and brought accountability into focus.
Even in its end, Refocus Recovery played a vital role in pushing Minnesota’s recovery system forward.
Where Do We Go from Here?
As of 2025, we still haven’t been presented with evidence of fraud. We made the decision to close—not because we were found guilty, but because the storm around us was undermining the very cause we believed in.
It’s easy to label us the villain. But that narrative misses a harder truth: Minnesota’s peer recovery system was unprepared for the rapid expansion it underwent. The infrastructure, oversight, and policy just weren’t there. We built the plane while flying it—and paid the price when things went wrong.
Let this serve as a call for collective reflection.
Accountability in recovery work must be universal. Not just for a few scapegoats, but for every actor in the system—training providers, service organizations, government agencies, and policymakers. If we tolerate toxicity, infighting, and selective enforcement, we fail the people we claim to serve.
Our work must be rooted in ethics, humility, and a shared commitment to healing. Peer recovery has the power to change lives—but only if the systems that support it are just, ethical, and resilient.
The story of Refocus Recovery isn’t just one failure or controversy. It’s a lesson in ambition, consequence, and the cost of moving faster than the system could support.
And it’s a reminder that the peer movement is bigger than any one organization. It always was.
Tim Balow has spent the past seven years working within the addiction and recovery system of care, bringing a broad range of experience across recovery community organizations, residential treatment settings, and large-scale training and consulting initiatives for local, state, and federal programs. Tim is driven by a deep commitment to unity, hope, and empathetic service in all aspects of his work.
Last Updated on May 6, 2025
