Substance Use Treatment Counselor

Reports to: Director of Substance Use Treatment and Prevention

Classification: Full-time | Non-exempt

Salary & Benefits: CASAC-T, MHC-LP, and LMSW - $52,000-$58,000, commensurate with experience; LMHC, LCSW - $56,000-$62,000 commensurate with experience. The Center offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, 401K with an employer contribution, voluntary life and LTD insurance, paid parental, family care and gender affirming healthcare leave. We also offer a generous paid time off policy.

Schedule: Generally Monday through Friday. Work days and hours may shift depending on scheduling needs; typical schedule will be 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; flexibility is required. This position is classified as a hybrid role with a minimum of two days onsite per week.

Summary: The Substance Use Treatment Counselor is responsible for the development, implementation and delivery of the spectrum of substance use individual, group, family and community treatment services offered by The Center’s innovative and evidence-based substance use programming for LGBTQ adults. These services seek to reduce and/or cease substance use and/or relapse, as well as decrease substance-related health and social disparities with a focus on adults utilizing a race and gender equity lens.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop and provide direct individual and couples treatment interventions including intake, assessment, engagement, counseling, crisis-intervention, elements of case management and advocacy, and referral and follow-up encounters in-person or via telepractice methods (approximate caseload twenty-five to thirty clients).
• Develop and provide direct group treatment and group family counseling interventions including therapeutic and psycho-educational groups, carrying a proportional group caseload and maintaining group records.
• Collaborate with the Director of Substance Use Treatment and Prevention to meet program service and revenue goals.
• Develop and provide daily living skills education and information, working with staff members from referring agencies and representatives of community organizations and entities.
• Coordinate, develop, plan and provide community interventions.
• Respond to telephone inquiries, screen potential clients and make appropriate referrals to programs within and outside The Center.
• Provide care management that facilitates, coordinates and documents participant-centered care for participants across Center teams and departments to better address multiple and co-occurring concerns.
• Other duties as assigned.

Position requirements:

• LMSW/LMHC/MHC-LP/LCSW or CASAC/CASAC-T; SIFI field certification to supervise students a plus.
• One (1) to three (3) years minimum of clinical experience in the provision of alcohol and drug use treatment services, including conducting biopsychosocial intake assessments.
• Knowledge of behavioral health resources in the greater New York City area and related regulations and programs; knowledge of electronic medical recordkeeping a plus.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with a wide range of workstyles and cultural backgrounds.
• Bilingual or multilingual, a plus. Language preferences: Spanish, Bengali, Russian, and/or French-Creole.
• Understanding of, and commitment to, undoing structural and institutional racism and bias and the spectrum of gender identity and bias. Thoughtful and articulate analysis of the above, and consideration of the impacts and outcomes in decision-making processes and on underserved and historically oppressed communities as it relates to The Center’s work.
• Knowledge, understanding and experience working with LGBTQ+, TGNC, POC, and Immigrant populations, including knowledge of the spectrum of gender identity, transgender issues, immigration, and POC issues.
• A strong commitment to social justice and the mission of The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement:

The Center is subject to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Commissioner’s Order requiring COVID-19 Vaccination for Staff in Residential and Congregate Settings from New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The Center is required to comply with this order because we have a number of contracts with New York City.

All current and new staff must either provide a one-time verification that they are fully vaccinated with either a single-dose of an FDA- or WHO-approved one-dose COVID-19 vaccine or the second dose of an FDA- or WHO-approved two-dose vaccine.

The Center’s Commitment to Equity & Inclusivity:

The Center was born of community activism in response to the AIDS epidemic, ensuring a place for LGBTQ people to access information, care, and support that they were not receiving elsewhere. We opened in 1983 to help people who had doors constantly closed in their faces, ostracized by family, friends, and shunned by the general society. Since that time, we have continually provided a wide array of services and programs to serve our community, with an intentional focus on providing support to those who are most vulnerable. We have always taken great care to be a space that responds to community need; engaging in diversity, equity and inclusion work is another outgrowth of those ongoing efforts. We recognize that in order to help LGBTQ individuals and our diverse community achieve parity in health, justice, opportunity and success outcomes, our organization must hold a strong foundation and competency in, as well as invest organizational focus on, equity and inclusion frameworks, practices and policies. This is also true in our hiring and retention of staff.

The Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer.