Volunteer
Opportunity:
Inpatient Detox Counselor
Addiction Recovery Center (ARC)
The Boulder County Public Health (BCPH) Addiction Recovery Division
provides detoxification and transitional residential services to the
people of Boulder County. Police departments across Boulder County bring
people to our facility when they cannot care for themselves because of
drug or alcohol intoxication. Clients are also referred from local
hospitals, the homeless shelter, drug court, and other local agencies.
In addition, many residents come to the facility when they can’t stop
drinking or using drugs and are seeking help.
Clients
We serve a wide variety of clients, including the homeless population,
CU students, and the general public. Some of our clients are chronic
alcoholics or addicts who we have seen numerous times over the years.
Other clients may not have a chronic alcohol or drug problem, but they
made a bad choice and ended up in our facility by order of the court.
Clients can be very drunk, high, angry, irrational, disrespectful,
combative, disheveled in appearance, and/or have poor personal hygiene.
Clients vomit on occasion and sometimes are incontinent.
Hours
The facility is open 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, and it
currently has the capacity to serve 20 clients at any given time. There
are three shifts; during the day and evening hours the facility is
staffed by 3 people, and overnight it is staffed by 2 people.
Staff Responsibilities
Staff responsibilities are many. Staff is responsible for safely
detoxing clients from drugs or alcohol. This includes monitoring
clients’ vital signs and withdrawal symptoms, consulting with the
hospital, and completing hourly client safety checks. Staff uses
behavior management to ensure safety, and they often use de-escalation
skills when working with belligerent clients.
Staff is also responsible for completing admission paperwork and
procedures, as well as discharge paperwork. They work with clients after
they have stabilized to talk about treatment options and/or next steps.
Staff works hard with these clients to create good treatment plans and
transition plans for after their stay. They provide educational
treatment groups and work with an on site therapist to provide other
treatment assignments. In addition to all of these services, our staff
provides breathalyzers for many clients (10-100 people /day) who must
provide proof to their probation officers that they are sober.
Intensive Services Volunteer Information
As you can see, there is a lot to be done by staff. Many volunteers
are able to provide the vast majority of the services by the time they
have finished volunteering with us. Our volunteer program starts
volunteers with the less challenging tasks (e.g.
monitoring/breathalyzers/laundry) and eventually progresses to the more
complex and skilled tasks (e.g. de-escalation of clients, counseling).
Task Examples
- Provide breathalyzers
- Counsel clients
- Prepare or serve food
- Clean up vomit/urine/feces
- Clean dishes
- Do hourly rounds to check on clients
- Make client beds
- Take client vital signs
- Do laundry
- Work with intoxicated and sober clients
- Inventory supplies
- Provide educational substance abuse groups (co-lead)
- Observe/complete intake of clients
- Coordinate care with family or friends of clients
- Observe/complete discharges
- Coordinate care with outpatient treatment providers
- Coordinate care with hospital and police
- Provide information and counseling to general public
- Conduct daily house meeting
Your Commitment
We ask that volunteers commit to at least two 4-hour shifts for 12
months and that students or interns commit to at least two 4-hour shifts
over 2 semesters (9 months). During the probationary period (i.e.
first three to six weeks) volunteers/interns meet with a supervisor at
three (3) weeks and at six (6) weeks. These meetings help to ensure
that: (1) your needs are being met, and you feel like your time is
valued and well-spent; and (2) staff can share any concerns and offer
information on how you can more effectively help us with the work we do.
On occasion, the volunteer or staff may decide that the volunteer is not
a good match for the program. After three months, we will ask and expect
that you will complete the rest of your commitment (nine more months for
volunteers and six more months for students or interns).
What can you expect as a volunteer?
First 3 weeks:
- Monitoring at window, provide breathalyzers
- a lot of down time (bring a book)
- Read policies and procedures
- limited client contact
- Practice vitals on staff
3-6 weeks:
- Laundry, meal prep/cleanup
- increased client contact (w/staff lead)
- Observe intake admissions with clients
- read about substance abuse issues
- Observe discharges
- Observe recovery Transitional Outpatient Program (TOPA) groups
6+ weeks:
- Any duties determined by volunteer and supervisor
- more independent contact with clients
- (listed above under “Task Examples”)
What are we looking for in an Intensive Services volunteer?
- A passion to work with substance-abusing individuals
- Positive attitude
- Professionalism
- A desire to challenge oneself
- Ability to be self-directed
- Patience
- Teachable spirit
- Confidence
- Ability to maintain a level head amidst crisis
- Desire to work with a variety of populations
- Self-motivated
- Ability to communicate effectively
- Experience in substance abuse or human service work
- Knowledge of, or ability to learn appropriate boundaries with
clients
- Respect for all individuals regardless of race, ethnicity,
gender expression, sexual orientation, socio-economic background,
age, religion, ability, or size
- Ability to assist staff in lifting, supporting, and/or moving
clients in a medical emergency
- Ability to commit to a minimum of two consistent four-hour
shifts per week
- Time commitment of one year for volunteers, two semesters for
students
Other Requirements:
- Volunteers must complete required immunizations and TB testing
(provided at no cost by BCPH) if they have not already received
them. These include:
- Hepatitis B, series of three immunizations.
- Varicella (i.e. chicken pox) immunization or confirmation of
the disease.
- TB (tuberculosis) skin test: two separate tests for TB
within the past year; annually if volunteer stays on.
- Tdap (Tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis)
immunization.
- Universal Precautions / TB training video.
- Volunteers must agree to and pass background checks (at BCPH’s
expense):
- Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for misdemeanors and
felonies.
- Colorado Department of Human Services (i.e. Colorado Trails)
check for child abuse and neglect.
- Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP), a national screening
and selection service.
- If in recovery, volunteers must have at least two years of
sobriety.
- If a former client of the ARC at BCPH, it must be at least three
years since the volunteer was discharged from any inpatient or
outpatient treatment at the ARC.
What are the benefits of being an Intensive Services volunteer?
- Gain skills in substance abuse counseling and crisis
intervention in a professional environment.
- Acquire hours toward Colorado Certified Addiction Counselor (CAC)
certification.
- Participate in supervision with an experienced substance abuse
counselor.
- Learn treatment planning skills and the different substance
abuse treatment options that are available to individuals.
- Learn paramedical techniques in working with detoxifying
clients.
- Work with dedicated and caring professionals.
We hope this information is helpful as you consider a volunteer
position with our program. If you are interested in applying for this
position, please complete the attached volunteer application. In an
effort to make a good fit for you and us, we would like to meet you in
person and discuss your interest in our program. Someone will contact
you to schedule a time to meet after we have received your application.
Thank you again for your interest in our program. We look forward to
meeting you.
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