State of Maryland

The Alcohol and Drug (A/D) Professional Counselor is the full performance level of work, at the licensed Master’s Degree level, counseling clients with substance use disorders by using intervention, treatment and rehabilitation.  Employees in this classification do not supervise other Alcohol and Drug Counselors.

Employees in this classification receive general supervision from an Alcohol and Drug Professional Counselor Supervisor or a program administrator.  Employees in this classification may be required to work evenings and weekends.  The work is performed in State addictions programs located in State institutions, facilities and offices including inpatient and outpatient facilities, halfway house facilities and community-based programs.

Positions in this classification are evaluated using the classification job evaluation methodology.  The use of this method involves comparing the assigned duties and responsibilities of a position to the job criteria found in the Nature of Work and Examples of Work sections of the class specification.

The Alcohol and Drug Professional Counselor is differentiated from the Alcohol and Drug Professional Counselor Provisional on the basis of license status and supervisory control exercised by the supervisor over these employees.  The Alcohol and Drug Professional Counselor is licensed and performs the full range of duties and responsibilities under general supervision.  The Alcohol and Drug Professional Counselor Provisional is non-licensed and learns to perform duties under close supervision.  The Alcohol and Drug Professional Counselor is differentiated from the Alcohol and Drug Professional Counselor Advanced in that the Alcohol and Drug Professional Counselor Advanced is the advanced level of professional alcohol and drug counseling work with expertise in a specialty area.

Provides counseling and case management services to clients with substance use disorders with the most complex problems as defined by standard treatment criteria;

Advocates for client services, collaborates with other disciplines involved in providing client treatment and coordinates all treatment activities with services provided to the client by other resources;

Provides group counseling to clients with substance use disorders;

Screens clients with substance use disorders to determine the most appropriate initial course of action with regard to substance treatment;

Assesses clients with substance use disorders to gather and interpret information necessary for planning treatment and evaluating client progress;

Develops client treatment plans and strategies to obtain the desired treatment outcomes;

Makes referrals to facilitate the client's use of available support systems and community resources in response to needs identified in clinical evaluation;

Identifies and responds to clients in crises;

Provides life skills education relevant to the recovery process to clients with substance use disorders, their families, significant others and community groups;

Documents client information in accordance with accepted principles of client record management;

Adheres to accepted ethical and behavioral standards of conduct and participates in continuing professional development;

Performs other related duties.

Class Descriptions are broad descriptions covering groups of positions used by various State departments and agencies.  Position descriptions maintained by the using department or agency specifically address the essential job functions of each position.

Class Descriptions provide information about the Nature of Work, Examples of Work, General Requirements and Acknowledgements.  The Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities; Minimum Education and Experience Requirements; Special Requirements; and recruitment and testing procedures are set by the using agency.

This is a Professional Service classification in the State Personnel Management System.  All positions in this classification are Professional Service positions.  Some positions in Professional Service classifications may be designated as Special Appointment in accordance with the State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 6-405, Annotated Code of Maryland.

This classification is not assigned to a bargaining unit, as indicated by the designation of S (Supervisor), M (Manager), T (Agency Head), U (Board or Commission Member), W (Student), X (Used by Agency or Excluded by Executive Order), or Z (Confidential).  As provided by State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 3-102, special appointment, temporary, contractual, supervisory, managerial and confidential employees are excluded collective bargaining.  Additionally, certain executive branch agencies are exempt from collective bargaining and all positions in those agencies are excluded from collective bargaining.