Substance Use Counselor

Center for Alternative • New York, NY

1d • $57,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

CASES is a New York City agency at the forefront of the intersection between behavioral health and involvement in the criminal justice system. Our mission is to increase public safety through innovative services that reduce crime and incarceration, improve behavioral health, promote recovery and rehabilitation, and create community success opportunities. The Behavioral Health division consists of a continuum of services for justice-involved individuals with serious mental illness. The Nathaniel Clinic is an OMH-licensed Article 31 clinic that provides outpatient mental health services to adolescents and adults, focusing on providing care to those involved in the criminal legal system.

Substance Use Counselor play an integral role in the recovery process, and the services they provide have shown to promote positive health and recovery outcomes. The SUS is part of a multidisciplinary team working collaboratively with therapists, psychiatrists/PNPs, and nurses. The SUS will perform initial substance use assessments, complete SBIRTS, provide individual and group counseling, contribute to person-centered, trauma informed treatment planning, provide crisis intervention, and assist participants in developing relapse prevention plans.

Requirements

• Must have active CASAC (Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor) certification status in good standing
• High school diploma or equivalent.
• At least 18 months of work experience providing substance use services to individuals with serious mental illness and/or substance use disorder and criminal justice involvement.
• Individuals with previous criminal justice experience are encouraged to apply.
• Individuals with lived experience are encouraged to apply.

Nice To Haves

• Fluency in Spanish.

Responsibilities

• Provide substance use treatment including individual, family and group counseling.
• Perform Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT).
• Provide services that are person/family-centered, strengths-based, recovery-oriented, trauma-informed, and culturally competent.
• Identify the treatment needs of and with participants, based on severity of substance use, stage of change, and immediate needs as well as recommended treatment objectives.
• Engage participants with urgent and crisis substance use needs to offer support and resolve crisis
• Assess treatment needs, and provide substance use expertise for person-centered evaluation and treatment planning.
• Establish the degree of risk for substance use and harmful behaviors and provide interventions and support to promote progress towards recovery.
• Provide relapse prevention, psychoeducation, and harm reduction using motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
• Run evidence-based substance use treatment and Relapse Prevention groups.
• Act as an advocate and liaison for participants in securing access to MAT, emergency detox, rehabilitation care, and other community supports that promote integrated substance use or dual disorder treatment.
• Dispense Naloxone response kits as an approved NYS dispenser.
• Outreach and network with DCO partners providing crisis stabilization, inpatient/residential detox and rehabilitative treatment centers.
• Contribute to ongoing organizational commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracist practices in delivery of services and work.
• Provide culturally competent services in accordance with CASES policies and practice.
• Help ensure we maintain a safe working environment by reporting any hazards or unsafe conditions, e.g., liquid spill in hallway, to the appropriate facilities staff member or supervisor.
• Any other duties as required by senior clinical leadership.

Benefits

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Vacation and Paid Time Off – starting at 25 days-off annually, plus an additional summer self-care day
• 12 Paid Holidays per year
• Retirement 403b Competitive matching up to 6%
• Employee Referral Program

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: High school or GED