Stephen J. Gumbley, MA, ACDP II
Director, New England ATTC

• Knowledge
• Skills
• Attitude

• Staff development
• Evaluation

Using Benchmarks for Learning Progress
Identify benchmarks along a continuum of counselor development.
1
Developing
2
Competent
3
Proficient
4 5
Exemplary
Adapted from
Clinical Supervision: Building Chemical Dependency Counselor Skills
Northwest Frontier ATTC

• Developing Counselors - limited understanding and inconsistent
• Competent Counselors – meets necessary standards
• Proficient Counselors - apply intervention consistently and effectively
• Exemplary Counselors - develop and implement effective strategies for complex and difficult situations
Clinical Supervision: Building Chemical Dependency Counselor Skills
Northwest Frontier ATTC

A set of strategic interventions whose goal is to initiate or improve service delivery to a targeted population where they resides and work whose members:
 Have been underserved
 Do not know about services
 Believe they do not need the services
 Do not – or think they does not -- qualify for/can afford the services .

• Why reach out?

Outreach to People Experiencing Homelessness: A Curriculum for Training Health Care for the
Homeless Outreach Workers.

O
simply glorified cab drivers, babysitters, and hand-holders. They are not advocates with a narrow focus on the procedural rights of the client. They are not simply case managers linking motivated clients to needed services.

O
who use the vehicles of service linkage, advocacy, transportation, and babysitting to build relationships … and to instill in [clients] the desirability and possibility of change.

Outreach Competencies
• What are they?
Minimum standards for conducting street outreach for hard-to-reach populations
• Who developed them?
The Center for HIV, Hepatitis and Addiction
Training and Technology (CHHATT), which is a program of The Danya Institute, as part of the Central East Addiction Technology
Transfer Center (CEATTC). http://www.ceattc.org/OtherPDF/Counselor_competencies.PDF

Outreach Competencies
Competency 1: Understanding Outreach and Outreach in a
Scientific Context
Competency 2: Understanding Chemical Dependency
Competency 3: Understanding Disease and Wellness in the Context of Drug Use
Competency 4: Engagement
Competency 5: Intervention
Competency 6: Client Support
Competency 7: Supporting Ourselves

Competency 1: Understanding Outreach and
Outreach in a Scientific Context
Research Protocols
Behavioral Science Theories

Competency 2: Understanding Chemical Dependency
Substance Use vs. Substance Abuse
Substance Use Disorders
Pharmacology
Medication Assisted Recovery
Treatments
Paths to Recovery

Competency 3: Understanding Disease and Wellness in the Context of Drug Use

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Mental illness
Homelessness
History of physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse
Being an MSM or transsexual
Racial and/or ethnic minority status
Age
Unemployment

Reconnection with family and community
Activities that decrease
Vulnerability and Risk
Recovery•Wellness
Health
Activities that increase
Resilience and
Recovery Capital
Reduction or elimination of symptoms
Internal wellness

Competency 4: Engagement
Recruitment Strategies
Cultural Sensitivities
Safety and Awareness of Environment
Effective Communication

• Education: giving people information about issues
(substance abuse, HIV, domestic violence, etc.)
• Marketing: giving people in a risky population information about services
• Engagement: contacting people known to be at risk and encouraging the use of our services

• Education: catalogue sent to everyone in Maine
• Marketing: catalogue sent to everyone who went to Maine parks last year
• Engagement: catalogue sent to everyone who bought at
L.L. Bean last year

• Engagement entails
– a client and outreach worker participating in an activity that involves a positive interaction
– whereby the client is made to feel as comfortable as possible while listening to and speaking with the outreach worker
• Engagement involves
– identifying and making contact with members of the target group in their natural environments
– establishing rapport
– enlisting commitment to behavior change
– providing information about risk behaviors and strategies to eliminate or reduce risk.

• Engagement means creating/enlarging motivation with the client.
• The client does not need to be motivated in order to “be ready.”

Competency 5: Intervention
The outreach worker actively works with the client to reduce the harmful effects of the client’s behaviors.

Intervention Activities
• Health Information and Demonstration
• Risk Assessment
.
• Risk Reduction
• Prevention and Post-test Counseling
• Crisis Intervention
• Confidentiality and Ethics
• Laws and Regulations

Competency 6: Client Support
Client support is the process of facilitating the client’s utilization of available support systems and community resources to meet individual needs.

Competency 7: Supporting Ourselves
Burnout Prevention
Relapse Prevention

Creating wellness together