Bh/Ds Behavior Specialist Ii

The City of Virginia Beach Department of Human Services is seeking a PATH Behavior Specialist II. The preferred candidate will meet the qualifications of a Peer Recovery Support Specialist or QMHP-A and have experience providing outreach and community-based services to individuals living with serious mental health, and substance use disorders (SUD), co-occurring illnesses, and homelessness.
Duties:

• Assist clients with managing chemical dependency issues and promoting efforts for education and recovery and connecting them to some of their basic needs to including food, clothing, showers, laundry, transportation, identification, benefits etc.
• Use evidence-based practices, including motivational interviewing to engage substance-using adult in the knowledge of relapse; relapse prevention strategies; and developing a specific relapse prevention plan. Review and discuss stages of change to educate and help client understand the process/journey of recovery.
• Provide life skills training to clients and collaborate with other agencies and stakeholders to coordinate and maintain services.
• Assist individuals, Stakeholders, and other agency providers of SUD services in outreaching and identifying individuals weekly with SUDs who can benefit from Behavior Health programs, such as, Adult Outpatient Services programs.
• Work with PATH by assisting and supporting the individuals during the intake and orientation process of Behavioral Health services.
• Provide Recovery Support groups at the Pathways Center, Housing Resource Center, and other Stakeholder locations each week and provide counseling.
• Assist individuals in obtaining services that suit the individual's recovery needs by providing names of community resources and groups that may be useful. These resources could be but not limited to AA, NA, Al-Anon, and other recovery groups or organizations.
• Assist individuals enrolled in PATH services, their case manager or treatment team in determining the steps they need to take to achieve these goals and self-direction.
• Assist individuals in skill building and social supports in the community that will enhance their daily living skills, providing 1:1 training, documented monthly and resources provide to support ongoing progress.
• Assist the individual housing options that might be available and helping with the application through move in process.