Assistant Counselor - Ithaca, NY (37217)

To be considered for any SJCS careers all applicants must apply using this link SJCS Careers

About St. John’s Community Services

Founded in 1868, St. John’s Community Services is a private not for profit organization driven by our mission of advancing inclusive communities where every person, regardless of circumstances, has the opportunity to live their best life.

About Serenity House

Serenity House is a residential treatment program located in Ithaca that welcomes individuals from diverse backgrounds who are recovering from substance use disorders and seeking long-term rehabilitation support. Through client-centered residential care, we work collaboratively with residents to support their reintegration into the community through counseling, vocational opportunities, life skills development, and connections to local resources.

Our team is committed to providing compassionate, trauma-informed, and recovery-oriented services that promote dignity, growth, and long-term wellness.

What We Are Looking For

We are seeking a compassionate, dependable, and motivated Counselor Assistant to join our residential treatment team. In this role, you will provide day-to-day case management for reintegration residents, leads educational life skills groups, and coordinates referrals so each resident moves toward independent living.

The ideal candidate is passionate about helping others, committed to recovery-oriented care, and aligned with SJCS’s mission and values. This individual should be flexible, team-oriented, organized, and able to maintain professionalism in a fast-paced residential setting.

Ideal Qualities and Skills:

• Ability to provide trauma-informed and culturally responsive care to diverse populations
• Strong understanding of professional ethics, boundaries, and confidentiality requirements
• Commitment to empowering residents to achieve individualized treatment and recovery goals
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team while remaining flexible and proactive
• Willingness to seek clarification, support, and feedback when needed
• Ability to appropriately utilize crisis intervention and de-escalation techniques to maintain a safe environment
• Knowledge of substance use disorders, recovery principles, current treatment trends, and recovery culture
• Familiarity with mental health first aid principles and behavioral health support strategies
• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills
• Ability to complete timely, accurate, and professional documentation using electronic systems
• Commitment to maintaining the highest ethical and professional standards in residential care services

Required Qualifications:

• Minimum High School Diploma or Equivalent
• Experience in substance use, mental health or human services preferred; lived experience in recovery valued.
• CASAC-T/P certification or currently enrolled in a 350 Hour CASAC Educational Program with a scheduled completion of the program within 3 months of hire.

Preferred Qualifications

• Associate or bachelor’s degree in human services or related field
• CASAC

Core Responsibilities:

• Supporting residents in meeting the goals outlined in their service plans through a minimum of weekly meetings.
• Help residents solve practical problems: housing search, benefits, ID documents, transportation, employment, and education.
• Refer concerns that need counseling, assessment or plan changes to the House Manager or Clinical Supervisor.
• Complete weekly home visits at scattered site locations.
• Lead psychoeducation and life skills groups from a written curriculum, such as budgeting, job readiness, community living skills, personal care, parenting and social skills.
• Co-facilitate other groups as assigned.
• Make and track referrals to outpatient treatment, vocational, educational, legal, mental health, and social services.
• Follow-up on referral outcomes and record them in the resident’s record.
• Help residents connect with a primary care provider and obtain medical records, including from outpatient or OTP providers.
• Support access to medication for addiction treatment by coordinating with prescribers and the program’s OTP partner.
• Obtain and track 42 CFR Part 2 consents to all outside contacts.
• SUD and co-occurring disorder screening.
• Non-clinical intake and resident orientation, including house rules and resident rights.
• Basic crisis response, including naloxone use, and escalation to on-call clinical staff.
• Overdose prevention and naloxone education for residents.
• Reporting and recordkeeping in compliance with OASAS, HIPAA and Medicaid requirements.
• Support structured recreation and community activities.
• Complete timely, accurate, and professional documentation using electronic systems
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

This list of responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with this position is not in its entirety as other duties may be assigned and are expected to be followed.

All SJCS employees must:

• Obtain a valid health certificate to meet current funding authority requirements as required.
• Having a valid state-issued driver’s license with a current driving record in good standing is required.
• Meet SJCS and the funding authority requirement of criminal background and record checks.

Physical and environmental conditions include:

• Work requires no unusual demand for physical effort except the normal risks or discomforts, requiring special safety precautions for operating a motor vehicle.
• Some travel – less than 10%.

The hiring range for this position ranges from $22/hr to $23/hr and is dependent on experience.

Other benefits include the following:

• Medical, dental, vision, STD, and other benefits and company contributions
• Retirement plans.
• Company paid LTD.
• Connectivity reimbursements (some employees)
• PTO, Vacation, and sick time off.
• Flexibility
• Helping other people live their best life!

Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.

Do you think that you are a great fit for this position? We are waiting for you to join our team! Apply today on our company website SJCS Careers to be considered.