overview of Outreach competencies

Stephen J. Gumbley, MA, ACDP II

Director, New England ATTC

Competencies

• Knowledge

• Skills

• Attitude

Competencies

Purpose of competencies

• Staff development

• Evaluation

Identify benchmarks along a continuum of counselor development.

1Developing

3Proficient

5 Exemplary

2 4

Using Benchmarks for Learning Progress

Adapted fromClinical Supervision: Building Chemical Dependency Counselor SkillsNorthwest Frontier ATTC

Competent

Benchmarks

• 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 SkillsNorthwest Frontier ATTC

Outreach is…

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?

human kiosk

TRUST

Outreach is challenging.

Effective outreach requires expertise, skills and sensitivity to the [client’s] experience.

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

Effective Outreach

• Preparation • Inner work

• Self awareness

• Competency

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.

Outreach workers are not …

change agents 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 workers ARE…

• 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).

Outreach Competencies

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

HIV/AIDS

Hepatitis

Tuberculosis

Confounders

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

Activities that decrease Vulnerability and Risk

Activities that increase Resilience and

Recovery Capital

Recovery•Wellness Health

Reduction or elimination of

symptoms

Reduction or elimination of

symptomsReconnection with family and community

Reconnection with family and community

Internal wellnessInternal wellness

Wellness

Competency 4: Engagement

Recruitment Strategies

Cultural Sensitivities

Safety and Awareness of Environment

Effective Communication

Outreach Activities

• 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

• 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

Outreach -- Reach out

Creating wellness together