Certified Substance Abuse Counselor

Description:

Shift: Office Day (8am - 4pm) (with one evening 12pm - 8pm)

Days Off : Saturday, Sunday

Insurance Benefits : Dental, Life, Long-term Disability, Medical (no premiums/payroll deductions for employee coverage)

Other Benefits: Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), ORCA card subsidy, Paid Time Off (34 days per year), Retirement Plan

Union Representation: This position is a part of a union and is represented by SEIU Healthcare 1199NW.

About DESC:

Recognized nationally as an innovator and leader in developing solutions to homelessness, DESC is a social services organization, supportive housing operator, and licensed behavioral health treatment provider focused on meeting the needs of people experiencing long-term homelessness and living with complex behavioral health and other medical conditions. Approximately 3,000 people are actively receiving services from DESC at any given point in time. Our vision is a community where all people are shown compassion, treated with dignity, and everyone has a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home.

DESC operates five shelter/emergency housing programs, 19 permanent supportive housing facilities with over 1,750 units, several hundred additional scattered site apartments, and a range of behavioral health services including outpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment, residential crisis stabilization, street outreach, mobile crisis response, and treatment for opioid use disorder.

About PACT:

The Program for Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) is a nationally recognized, evidence-based approach to mental health treatment which utilizes a highly collaborative model to positively impact the lives of individuals challenged by the most severe and persistent mental illnesses.

The DESC PACT team is centered in the concept that recovery is more successful when all providers work closely together to provide integrated support services for all aspects of participants lives, including medication, therapy, social support, employment and housing.

Team scheduling requirements reflect this commitment to provide participants with intensive wrap-around, 24/7 services at their homes and in a variety of community settings. Team members provide rotating coverage for 12 hours per day Monday to Friday and 8 hours per day on weekends & holidays. In addition, all team members participate in on-call rotations to provide 24-hour crisis coverage.

MAJOR JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Manage and facilitate PACTs SUD Programming:
• The PACT model requires the SUDP to divide their time into approximately 80% facilitation of the SUD program and 20% direct case management work.
• The PACT SUDP will update substance use treatment plans monthly according to the clients identified stage of change and propose effective, evidence-based interventions to meet each stage.
• Act as the PACT team's subject matter expert for substance use disorders.
• Provide consultation to other team members regarding SUD issues, treatment, and education, including Harm Reduction best practices.
• Provide staff training on substance use issues, as appropriate.
• Provide individual and group substance use disorder (SUD) treatment in office and in community settings using a stage-based treatment model that is non-confrontational, considers interactions of mental illness and substance use, and has client-determined goals. With the clients participation, develop support and treatment plans; facilitate linkages to collaborative resources when appropriate.
• Plan, organize and facilitate treatment and support groups for clients, as appropriate.
• Monitor and coordinate replacement of PACT harm reduction supplies.
• Advocate for client access to community resources and services, ensuring that client needs are met and rights maintained; consult and collaborate with community providers to ensure continuity of care.
• Develop and maintain strong collaborative relationships with DESC staff, and other service and resource organizations to ensure full continuity of care for clients.
• Participate in psychiatric consultation, supervision, program team meetings and in-service trainings; participate in clinical reviews and case conferences.
• Comply with the agency's clinical accountability policies and procedures; maintain current and complete clinical records; participate in quality assurance reviews when assigned.
• Comply with data gathering/submission requirements, and with applicable program research and evaluation procedures.
• Participate in verbal de-escalation in emergent situations and be willing and able to assist other staff as needed to maintain a safe and secure environment.
• Participate in the planning, organizing and facilitating of unit mitigations for clients on your caseload. Unit mitigations are coordinated efforts to support clients with maintaining healthy living conditions. This can include but is not limited to attending care conferences related to unit mitigation, outreaching and supporting clients in their residential units with tools and skills to maintain their units, coordinating with housing staff to ensure proper work orders are filed in a timely manner, participating in cleaning out clients units, and documenting barriers to unit mitigation.
• Collaborate with the greater DESC SUD team by attending the weekly SUD team meeting and consulting with the SUD Clinical Supervisor and SUD Senior Program Manager at least monthly.
• This is a multidisciplinary role, serving clients with dual diagnoses.
• Other duties as assigned.

Specialty Area:

• Facilitate PACTs SUD program as described above.
• Complete and update monthly substance use assessments, according to each clients stage of change for all PACT enrolled clients.
• Prepare assessments for inpatient treatment programs.
• Coordinate inpatient treatment referrals through King County.
• Be comfortable with Harm Reduction and Motivational Interviewing approaches.

Living Conditions:

Support your clients with achieving and maintaining healthy living conditions. This can include but is not limited to attending care conferences related to living conditions, outreaching and supporting clients in their residential units with tools and skills to maintain their units, coordinating with housing staff, participating in cleaning out clients units, and documenting barriers to maintaining healthy living conditions.

Other:

• Participate in daily morning meetings, psychiatric consultations, clinical supervision, program meetings and in-service trainings; participate in clinical reviews and case conferences.
• Comply with the agency's clinical accountability policies and procedures; maintain current, timely and complete clinical records; participate in quality assurance reviews when assigned.
• Comply with applicable program research and evaluation procedures.
• Other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Licensed by the State of Washington as a Substance Use Disorder Professional (SUDP) in good standing.
• At this time, we can only consider applicants with an active SUDP license issued by the Washington State Department of Health.
• Ability to drive an agency or personal vehicle to conduct agency related business. A current Washington State driver's license and insurable driving record are required.
• Interest or experience in working with clients who are difficult to engage and maintain in traditional mental health or substance use disorder programs.
• Interest or experience working with adults who are experiencing or who have experienced homelessness, have a mental illness and/or co-occurring substance use disorders, and who are involved in the criminal legal system.
• Have a strong understanding of recovery and resilience, the value of client partnerships and client choice, and the balance between protection from harm and personal dignity.
• Strong knowledge of relevant community resources and methods for accessing them.
• Possess strong communication and writing skills.
• Ability to work effectively with clients displaying a wide range of unpleasant and/or bizarre behaviors.
• Ability to communicate and work effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
• Subscribe to the philosophy of cooperation and continuity across programs and of consideration and respect for clients.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Associates degree or higher in a relevant social science.
• Strong applicants can demonstrate the ability to be positive in their empathetic responses to all people.
• Understand the value of meaningful and deep client engagement.
• Have the potential to acquire the necessary knowledge, attitudes and skills of an effective SUD Counselor.
• Value a non-judgmental response to sensitive issues.
• Candidates should be able to accept feedback and work in a highly collaborative and stressful environment.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee will be required sit for long periods of time, communicate with other people by talking and hearing, required to lift and carry items weighing up to 40 pounds and to operate computer hardware systems. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:

DESC is committed to diversity in the workplace and promotes equal employment opportunities for all staff members and applicants. The Agency will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, caste, marital status, or the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability in any employment practice, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification. Minorities and veterans are encouraged to apply.

IND123

PM17

Compensation details: 39.08-43.15 Hourly Wage

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