Substance Use Counselor

Compensation Range: $55,000 - $78,000 yearly commensurate with experience and credentialling

Benefits:
We have three comprehensive healthcare plans to choose from based on your priorities and budget. Housing Works covers most of the plan; you pay a portion, based on your salary. Staff begins accruing PTO immediately for a total of up to 30 days earned in the first year. We offer employees an educational benefit. This money is available for tuition loan reimbursement, tuition costs, and text books.

Overview:

This is a grant funded position with our MOCJ (Mayors Office of Criminal Justice) Hotels for the provision of therapeutic services to the formerly incarcerated population in a transition housing setting.

Housing Works is seeking an experienced Substance Use Counselor (CASAC and/or LMSW) to provide on-site, trauma-informed, and harm-reduction–oriented services to justice-involved individuals transitioning from incarceration to the community. The counselor will deliver integrated substance use and mental health (dual diagnosis) treatment, with a strong focus on re-entry stabilization, engagement, and continuity of care. This role involves conducting comprehensive assessments of substance use, mental health symptoms, and re-entry–related risk factors; providing individual and group counseling; supporting crisis intervention; and collaborating closely with an interdisciplinary team of medical, behavioral health, and re-entry service providers.

A central focus of this position is increasing clinical, behavioral, and psychosocial stability in support of residents’ readiness to transition from this transitional site to their next permanent or longer-term housing placement. The counselor will play a critical role in supporting residents during high-risk transition periods (e.g., recent release from incarceration, hospitalization, detoxification), promoting safety, stability, and successful community reintegration. The facility operates 365 days on a 24-hour basis daily, including evening and weekend hours, work on holidays (some positions will require non-traditional work hours

Responsibilities:

• Clinical Services & Support:
  • Provide individual counseling focused on substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions, utilizing evidence-informed, trauma-responsive, and culturally responsive approaches.
  • Facilitate psychoeducational and therapeutic groups addressing substance use, mental health symptoms, relapse prevention, emotional regulation, coping skills, and re-entry–related challenges (e.g., adjustment to community living, supervision stressors, stigma).
  • Conduct comprehensive bio-psychosocial and substance use assessments, including evaluation of re-entry risks, legal involvement, and barriers to care.
  • Deliver crisis intervention services related to substance use, mental health decompensation, trauma responses, or behavioral concerns; consult with supervisors and complete required incident documentation.
• Integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment:
  • Develop and implement integrated treatment plans, in conjunction with the Case Managers, that address both substance use and mental health needs in collaboration with interdisciplinary providers.
  • Support residents with co-occurring disorders through coordinated care and conferencing with psychiatry, psychotherapy, primary care, and case management.
  • Utilize a harm reduction framework, meeting clients where they are and supporting safer use, stabilization, and self-determined goals.
• Care Coordination & Systems Navigation:
  • Coordinate referrals and linkages to detoxification, inpatient and outpatient treatment, medication-assisted treatment (MAT), mental health services, and recovery supports.
  • Collaborate with internal and external partners, including re-entry programs, medical providers, and behavioral health teams, to support continuity of care.
  • Participate in case conferences and interdisciplinary meetings, particularly during periods of elevated risk (e.g., recent release from incarceration, hospital discharge, relapse, psychiatric crisis).
• Documentation, Compliance & Team Participation:
  • Maintain timely, accurate, and compliant clinical documentation in accordance with HIPAA, MOCJ, and Housing Works standards.
  • Participate in program meetings, supervision, trainings, and quality assurance activities.
  • Communicate proactively with team members to ensure resident safety, engagement, and treatment continuity.
  • All documentation and case notes are to be completed within 48 hours of interaction.
• Other duties as assigned Other Functions:
  • Attend weekly team meetings Partakes of one-hour weekly supervision and maintain on-going clinical communication with supervisor.
  • Participate in on-going training and/or certifications as per requirements.
  • The LMSW will have access to PHI during the course of their work activities. Incumbent will use this information to provide psychiatric therapy as needed in compliance with all regulations and guidelines relative to established plan of care. ALL HIPAA, corporate compliance, and program guidelines must be maintained and kept at all times.
  • Attendance of in-service trainings required.

Requirements:

Required:

• CASAC certification and/or LMSW required.
• LMSW must be from an accredited institution of higher learning with current NYS licensure or possess a permit from the New York State Education Department.
• Minimum of Associate’s degree from an accredited institution.
• At least one year of experience providing substance use counseling; experience with co-occurring mental health disorders strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience working with justice-involved populations, individuals re-entering the community after incarceration, or populations with complex psychosocial needs.

Preferred:

• Two or more years of experience providing services to individuals with substance use disorders, serious mental illness, and/or HIV/AIDS.
• Experience working with justice-involved populations, individuals recently released from incarceration, or residents in transitional or supportive housing.
• Experience in harm reduction, recovery-oriented, and trauma-informed care settings.
• Customer service abilities including effective listening skills.
• Critical thinking skills, decisive judgment, and the ability to work with minimal supervision in a fast-paced environment.
• Bi-lingual Spanish preferred

Job candidates should be aware that scammers may pose as employers and create fake job postings in order to extract personal information from individuals for financial gain. Housing Works will never ask job candidates for personal information, such as social security numbers or bank account details, over the phone. If you suspect that a job posting may be fake or wish to confirm that a job posting from Housing Works is genuine, please contact us at recruitment@housingworks.org

Housing Works was founded in 1990; With a long-term commitment to AIDS advocacy. Housing Works established New York State’s first harm reduction-based, OASAS-licensed outpatient drug treatment program. Other services include Health Home care management, behavioral health, and syringe exchange programs. A pioneer in the social entrepreneurship movement, Housing Works operates 10 high-end thrift shops in Manhattan and Brooklyn and a much-loved Bookstore Cafe in Soho. For more information, visit www.housingworks.org

Housing Works fights for funding and legislation to ensure that all people living with HIV/AIDS have access to quality housing, healthcare, HIV prevention, and treatment, among other lifesaving services.

Housing Works provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements. Housing Works complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. Housing Works also does not request prior salary information during the hiring process. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

This position is included in a bargaining unit of Housing Works’ New York City employees represented by a labor union known as the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union (“RWDSU”). Accordingly, the RWDSU has the exclusive right to bargain over the terms and conditions of employment related to this position and this position may become covered by the terms of a collective bargaining agreement (a “CBA”) between Housing Works and the RWDSU