Community SUD Counselor (SUDP/T)

Description

Days Off: Saturday, Sunday

Shift: Day (8:00AM-4:00PM)

Locations: Community, Emergency Housing, Shelters

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.

JOB DEFINITION:

The SUDP/SUDPT works collaboratively with agency staff & community resources to provide a range of services to clients with substance use disorders (SUD) using a harm reduction approach. Recovery goals and treatment length are defined by the client, not the program. Many clients have a sustained and/or complicated substance use history in addition to co-occurring mental health and physical disorders. Often people experiencing mental health issues, complex trauma, and health issues who lack access to proper treatment attempt to self-medicate with substances to lessen the symptoms. The ability to provide highly integrated services to people with concurrent mental health, substance use, and physical diagnoses are crucial components of our care. At DESC, our network of clinical services allows SUDPs/SUDPTs to work in coordination with care teams throughout the agency. This role will also partner with DESC’s MOUD program called ORCA POD. Care team members often include peers, mental health case managers, clinical support specialists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, nurses and supportive employment staff.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Perform substance use disorder assessments, intake evaluations, individual and group therapy, create Individual Service Plans (ISP) with clients, care coordination within and outside of DESC.
• Participate in weekly supervision (with direct supervisor) and team meetings (both SUD and ORCA POD). SUDPTs will participate in a weekly SUDPT learning academy.
• Participate as a member of a multi-disciplinary team and present clients needing extra support during weekly psychiatric consultation.
• Coordinate care conferences with entire care teams when issues are initially identified by the SUDP/SUDPT.
• Participate (if needed) in monthly Quality Assurance/Quality Inprovement (QA/QI) meetings.
• Participate in all required DESC in-service and King County sponsored trainings.
• Follow all DESC agency policies & procedures.
• Ensure timely documentation of all services provided as outlined by King County and DESC.
• Participate in research related to services at DESC within the agency and outside entities (UW, HCA, etc.).
• Maintain credential licensing on time. If SUDP, maintain continuing education requirements. If SUDPT, be enrolled in school per DOH requirements and provide documentation to employer.
• Other duties as assigned.

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.

Requirements

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Licensed by the State of Washington as a Substance Use Disorder Professional or Substance Use Disorder Professional Trainee in good standing.
• For SUDPT: Attested to the WA State Department of Health that the applicant is currently enrolled in an educational program to meet the educational requirements of a SUDP. The requirement for full licensure is an associate degree.
• Interest or experience in working with clients who are difficult to engage and maintain in traditional mental health programs.
• 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:

• Bi-cultural and/or bilingual background/experience.
• Experience working with adults experiencing homelessness and severe mental illness.

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 persons 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 committedto 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 thebasis 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 basedon a bona fide occupational qualification. Minorities and veterans are encouraged to apply.