Title: A presentation to the Florida Substance Abuse andMental Health Corporation September 9, 2005
1 A presentation to the Florida Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Corporation September
9, 2005
Workforce Development
- Neal A. McGarry
- Executive Director
- Florida Certification Board, Inc.
2Florida Certification Board (FCB)
- Is a private non-profit organization
- Credentials more than 8,904 certified
professionals statewide - Was established as an addiction certification
board in 1983 in Tallahassee - Is a member of National/International Consortium
establishing reciprocity in 43 states 17
countries.
3Multiple Workforce Development Initiatives
- Operates the Southern Coast Addiction Technology
Transfer Center (SCATTC), - one of 14 in a national network (since 2002).
- SCATTCs prime purpose is to advance practitioner
knowledge and expertise in addictions treatment
and recovery through the provision of continuing
education and specialized technical assistance. - Created annual Leadership Institute which has
been adopted as a national model.
4Multiple Workforce Development Initiatives
- Held a regional conference in February 2005
Raising the Bar Strengthening Substance Abuse
Treatment through Workforce Development - to
bring state teams together to stimulate the
development of workforce development plans at the
state level. - Such an initiative is now underway in Florida.
5Multiple Workforce Development Initiatives
Workforce Development in Substance Abuse
Prevention
- FCB established the Center for Prevention
Workforce Development in July 2005 funded
through DCF and SAMHSA - Will create a comprehensive training system based
on prevention specialist competencies - Will host an online Learning Management System
that can track individual learners and offer
distance education
6FCB sets standards for
- Addiction Counselors
- Prevention Specialists
- Criminal Justice Practitioners
- Behavioral Health Technicians
- Mental Health Professionals (development stage)
7FCB Applies Recognized Standards
- Uses accepted national/state standards for
entry-level practice (standards are
research-based and supported by a
psychometrically sound Role Delineation Study). - In some cases certification can be required for
practice. - Certification suggests that a person has met a
set of minimum practice standards.
8FCB Provider Educational System
- FCB currently has 183 approved education
providers. - All major Community Colleges/Universities have
curricula that lead to certification. - Service providers also offer on-site education to
employees that helps to obtain/maintain
certification. - Private education providers offer significant
amounts of education.
9FCB Code of Ethics
- All certified personnel must adhere to a code of
ethics that was developed by the field. - FCB conducts investigations on all ethical
allegations and if accusations are founded, FCB
conducts a full hearing. - Ethics Committee is made up of certified
professionals.
10What are some of todays challenges to the
addiction treatment and prevention workforce?
11National Trends Workforce Composition
- Reduced representation of recovering people in
the field - Dramatic increase of people formally educated
trained in addiction counseling (80 BA 49 MA) - Increased representation of persons trained in
psychology, social work and counseling - Feminization of the field (70 of new counselors
female 68 of clients male) - Ethnicity mismatch (85 of counselors white 43
of clients non-white) - Mulvey, et al. 2003
12Challenges Facing the Workforce
- Among the key issues facing the addiction
workforce are - Insufficient workforce/treatment capacity to meet
demand for services - The changing profile of those needing services
(persons with co-occurring mental health
substance abuse disorders) - A shift to increased public financing of
treatment - Challenges related to the adoption of best
practices - Increased utilization of medications in treatment
13Challenges Facing the Workforce
- Among the key issues facing the addiction
workforce - are
- A movement toward a recovery management model of
care - Provision of treatment and related services in
non-traditional settings - Use of performance and patient outcome measures
- Discrimination/stigma associated with addiction.
14Immediate Issues
- Recruitment
- New counselors are needed annually for net staff
replacement and growth but there are issues that
need to be addressed in order to attract new
people for these positions. - Most people enter the field in mid-30s and often
as a second career which requires training or
re-training. - Retention
- Turnover rates above national average of 11
ranging from 18.5 - 33 a year (McLellan
Johnson, et al 2002) - Counselor salaries and benefits are below other
similar professions.
15Immediate Issues
- Competency
- Training
- Most training didactic - effective science to
service transfer requires ongoing skill building
and clinical supervision - Agencies cannot get reimbursed for the time
counselors are being trained. - Education
- Variation exists in educational programs
(curricula, degree programs), if they can be
found - Low counselor salaries make it difficult for them
to cover educational costs/loans
16Recruitment and Retention
Perceived Barriers to Entering Substance Abuse
Treatment Field
- Low salary/benefits 38
- Paperwork 27
- Competition from other fields 26
- Large caseloads 25
- Negative notions about addicts 24
- Evening and weekend work hours 20
- Stigma of field 19
- Cost of training 17
- Lack of encouragement 15
- Quality of work environment 15
- Amount of training 15
- Not a real profession 10
- Tx models insensitive to ethnicity/culture 11
- Discrimination 5
- Geographical constraints 4
- No barriers 7
- Source 2002 Florida SA Workforce Survey, SCATTC
17Recruitment and Retention Issues
- Low Counselor Salaries
- 3.6 lt 14,999
- 16.1 15,000-24,999
- 21.6 25,000-29,999
- 14.6 30,000-34,999
- 9.1 35,000-39,999
- 10.7 40,000-49,999
- 14.6 50,000-74,999
- 5.5 gt75,000
- 2.6 refused response
- Source 2002 Florida SA Workforce Survey, SCATTC
182005 Estimated Salaries by Profession FL Agency
for Workforce Innovation
19SCATTC Agency Director Workforce SurveySalary
Levels (2004)
- Salary
- 15,000-17,999 61
- 18,000-19,999 26.5
- 20,000-23,999 8.8
- 24,000-26,999 2.9
- Salary
- 15,000-17,999 20.6 (6.7)
- 18,000-19,999 41.2 (33.3)
- 20,000-23,999 20.6 (46.7)
- 24,000-26,999 17.6 (10)
- 27,000-29,999 (3.3)
- Entry Level Counselor, no college, no
certification - Entry Level Counselor, some college, no
certification, (lower level certification)
20SCATTC Agency Director Workforce SurveySalary
Levels (2004)
- Salary
- 15,000-17,999 7.5
- 18,000-19,999 10
- 20,000-23,999 50
- 24,000-26,999 30
- 27,000-29,999 2.5
- Salary
- 20,000-23,999 25.7
- 24,000-26,999 48.6
- 27,000-29,999 25.7
- Entry Level, BA, not certified
- Entry Level, BA, certified
21SCATTC Agency Director Workforce SurveySalary
Levels (2004)
- Salary
- 18,000-19,999 2.6
- 20,000-23,999 2.6
- 24,000-26,999 39.5
- 27,000-29,999 23.7
- 30,000-34,000 28.9
- Over 35,000 2.6
- Entry Level Counselor, MA, not certified or
licensed
22SCATTC Agency Director Workforce SurveySalary
Levels (2004)
- Salary
- 18,000-19,999 2.3
- 20,000-23,999 4.7
- 24,000-26,999 16.3
- 27,000-29,999 20.9
- 30,000-34,000 27.9
- Over 35,000 27.9
- Entry Level Counselor, MA, certified or licensed
23SCATTC Agency Director Workforce Survey
- Qualifications of New Staff
- 40.7 of agency directors reported that up to
60 of applicants at their agencies were seeking
their first paid substance abuse treatment
position. - Only 9 of agency directors reported that
applicants were fully qualified to provide
services upon hire.
24 of respondents reporting various ways to
promote the retention of good direct service
staff (top 5 from a list of 17) Source 2002
Florida SA Workforce Survey, SCATTC
25Immediate Actions Needed for Workforce Development
- Recruitment Strategy Student loan forgiveness
program for persons working in the addiction
field - Retention Strategy Increase basic salary levels
for persons working in the addiction field - Competency Strategy Add state funding cost
centers to pay for clinical supervision and to
pay for persons working in the addiction field to
attend training.