Substance Use Disorder CRU Community Support Specialist
Position Summary
Use lived experience of recovery from substance use disorder to provide support, advocacy, and education. This is a non-clinical position to provide support to individuals seeking or maintaining recovery. This position serves as a bridge between clinical services and community-based recovery, offering mentorship, advocacy, and connection to resources while modeling successful recovery. Designed to support clients in achieving stability, improving functioning, and accessing community resources.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- Provide face-to-face assessment and services at the CRU within established timeframes (e.g., within 2 hours of initial contact when appropriate)
- Respond to clients’ needs promptly, including crisis management and after-hours emergency on-call duties for clients at the CRU.
- Develop and implement individualized treatment plans, monitor progress, and coordinate with healthcare providers, family, and community agencies while at CRU and at discharge.
- Teach communication, social, coping, and daily living skills; helps clients identify and avoid triggers; supports self-management of symptoms.
- Maintain accurate, timely, and complete case records and service logs; submits required reports to DMH.
- Ensure all services meet DMH standards and confidentiality requirements.
- Work within SMMHC CRU team organization and structures to provide comprehensive SUD programs at CRU for clients with SUD diagnosis.
- Utilize personal experience living with mental illness, incarceration history, and/or addiction recovery as a relatable cornerstone for providing services to individuals and in support groups.
- Provide support, advocacy, and education using skills and abilities in both individual casework and support group situations. Work with supervision to develop essential and evidence-informed programming for use with client-individuals and in support groups at the CRU.
- Facilitate a daily or weekly support group – 1 hour peer-lead recovery maintenance group with individuals at CRU.
- Maintain accurate electronic and hard-copy records of all services and support encounters and communications. Report all required metrics in a timely manner with necessary precision and accuracy.
- Utilize basic office communication and computing systems with skill, respect, and efficiency - EPIC EHR platform, MS Word and Excel, office telephone system and work cell phone. Effectively utilize A/V equipment and technology for training and educational purposes.
- Attend to continuous professional development, when not otherwise occupied by employment duties, by completing training and targeted educational modules as directed by director and supervision.
- Attend and co-facilitate, as directed, clinical group therapies for clients at CRU.
- Provide follow-up tracking/care as directed for SMMHC clients with respect to recovery status, trajectory, relapse, and/or welfare for 6 months post discharge from CRU, as directed.
- SMMHC CRU SUD Community Support Services Professional will maintain a program of personal mental health and/or SUD recovery while employed to ensure they remain healthy and fit for the stress and challenges of working with a SUD client population.
- Demonstrate appropriate interactions with coworkers that promote a pleasant work environment.
- Complete additional job duties assigned by supervisor.
Required Skills, Knowledge and Abilities
- A current or former consumer or first-degree family member of an individual knowledge who has received treatment for and self-identifies as a consumer or former mental health consumer.
- Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills.
- Thorough knowledge of the 12-Step Model of Recovery and other recovery pathways.
Education and Qualification Requirements
Required
- Bachelor’s degree in a mental health, intellectual/developmental disabilities or human services/behavioral health related field.
- Requires DMH Community Support Professional credential within 30 days of hire and maintained throughout duration of employment.
- Lived experience in substance use disorder recovery If in recovery, must demonstrate a minimum of six (6) months in self-directed recovery
Preferred
- Previous experience in an A & D treatment setting strongly preferred.
- Current certification of CPR/BLS and CPI/Mandt.