Substance Abuse Counselor

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE CLASS: The work involves the performance of a wide variety of duties related to substance abuse prevention and treatment provided to students in a school district. Primary emphasis is on providing counseling and guidance to students and their families. Other duties include the dissemination of information on programs and services provided by the agency, follow-up on former student cases and the preparation of records and reports. The purpose of the work is to coordinate services being provided to students with substance abuse problems to facilitate their transition to employment. The work is performed under the general supervision of a professional staff member in accordance with established policies and procedures. The incumbent does related work as required.
TYPICAL WORK ACTIVITIES:

• Maintains records of interviews and meetings with students and their families;
• Keeps abreast of new developments, programs and techniques in addictive abuse prevention and rehabilitation
• Works with addictive substance abusers to gain their confidence
• May disseminate information concerning programs and services to public and private agencies and to the general public through speaking engagements, media releases and educational programs
• Develops treatment plans for assigned students and maintains case progress notes in accordance with State guidelines
• Makes the community aware of the services available
• May prepare monthly student status and demographic reports
• Performs counseling function using an in-depth knowledge of alcoholism and drug addiction with students having special, social, adjust mental, addictive or personal problems in order to provide appropriate counseling relative to the student's stage of recovery
• Performs case management functions as well as managing an assigned caseload of specific hard to serve students using knowledge of long term recovery process so as to have the educational program enhance, or at least not jeopardize, the recovery
• Develops needed community resources and maintains working relationships with these groups and programs for hard to serve students
• May act as case coordinator with other community service agencies such as social services, alcohol rehabilitation organizations, mental health, private hospitals, educational institutions, etc. to provide more integrated services to students
• May perform specialized follow-up visits and studies to assist in evaluating program effectiveness
• May carry out special projects through research study and development in areas such as case management, integrated service planning and delivery for hard to serve students, etc.
• May supervise the administration of standardized testing instruments and procedures used in the evaluation of hard to serve students
• Performs a variety of related duties as required

FULL PERFORMANCE KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: Good knowledge of the problems of those addicted to or dependent on addictive substances; Good knowledge of the symptoms and physical signs of addictive substance use; Good knowledge of group and individual counseling; Working knowledge of services provided in a school district; Working knowledge of the public and private agencies available to provide assistance to the addicted; Ability to relate to and be accepted by addictive substance abusers; Ability to evaluate student interests and aptitudes; Ability to work with students in a variety of counseling and educational guidance situations; Ability to work in a team approach as part of an educational support team when primary goals are educational success; Ability to follow oral and written directions; Ability to maintain records. This position is a provisional civil service appointment and applicant must meet civil service requirements including residency in Schenectady County or one of the contiguous counties. Successful candidates are required to take civil service exam when offered. Candidates interested in applying must complete an online application. In addition, all applicants are requested to submit a current resume. This is a competitive Schenectady County Civil Service position. Candidates must meet civil service requirements for appointment. Candidates must currently hold this title or be reachable on the civil service list when available. If a list is not available, this will be a provisional appointment and the successful candidate must take the appropriate civil service examination and be reachable.