Lead Recovery Support Specialist

Lead RSS Position Overview

The Lead Recovery Support Specialist (RSS) orchestrates the daily operations of the recovery support team under the guidance of the Recovery Support Supervisor. This role is central to managing staff assignments, ensuring policy compliance, and maintaining the therapeutic environment. Key responsibilities include overseeing staff schedules, leading emergency protocols, and managing patient satisfaction initiatives. The Lead RSS also supports clinical programming and engages in active mentorship to enhance team performance and patient care. This position serves as a cornerstone of both leadership and operational excellence within the clinical department.

Specific Lead RSS Responsibilities:
* Responsibilities inclusive of all RSS responsibilities including additions below:
* Complete the Lead RSS Checklist each shift.
* Develops Floor/Staff Assignments.
* Ensures breaks for staff are scheduled and covered to support EPOB management.
* Supports/Leads codes and fire drills.
* Maintain equipment inventory system for department (rounders, walkies, keys) to help reduce spending (budget management)
* Manages the rounding compliance throughout the shift and ensures the team is meeting metric goals (scanned rounds and timeliness compliance)
* Ensures that Patient Satisfaction Surveys are completed upon discharge and the team is meeting the completion metric goal
* Helps to support Clinical Director/Clinical Supervisor in ensuring there is group coverage for clinical programming.
* Helps to create and/or facilitate additional group offerings from patient feedback to ensure the needs of patients are being met.
* Ensures entire RSS team is aware of group schedule and encouraging every patient to attend prior to group starting. RSS should explain the group topic as well as who is leading the group when describing the group to patients.
* Supports leadership from all departments with miscellaneous duties/needs to meet patient needs for specific departments.
* Provides re-education to RSS in real-time.
* Ensures safety checks around facility perimeter/grounds checks.
* Implements interventions to prevent premature against advice discharges.
* Ability to meet patients and families in Admissions.
* Meets with all high-risk patients on Saturdays and Sundays.
* Maintains a list of AA risk patients along with the Clinical Director/Clinical Supervisors. Models AA intervention strategies with RSS team.
* Helps devise an engagement strategy, in collaboration with the RSS Supervisor, for patients admitted 72 hours or less who are at high risk to leave AA on Saturday and Sunday.
* Keeps a log of successful and unsuccessful patient blocking. This is done in collaboration with the t RSS Supervisor.
* Collaborates with RSS Supervisor to ensure compliance with policies and protocols.
* Certified to facilitate the RSS New Hire Curriculum (approved RSS learner journey)
* Collaborates with Recovery Support Supervisor to support training initiatives.
* Additional responsibilities identified by site and corporate leadership.

RSS Position Overview:

The Recovery Support Specialist (RSS) provides direct support and supervision to patients receiving substance abuse and behavioral health services. Working under the direction of the Recovery Support Supervisor and in collaboration with clinical, nursing, and medical staff, the RSS promotes patient safety, engagement, recovery support, and therapeutic milieu management. Responsibilities include, but is not limited to, supporting patients in daily activities, leading patients in educational and recreational activities, facilitating psychoeducational and recovery-oriented programming, assisting with crisis intervention and de-escalation, monitoring patient behavior and safety, and contributing to a structured, trauma-informed treatment environment. The RSS supports individualized patient care through therapeutic engagement, observation, documentation, and collaboration with the interdisciplinary treatment team.

 

Specific RSS Responsibilities:
To perform the job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions:
* Monitors patient activities, provides security checks throughout shift, completes documentation to include, but not limited to, rounds sheets and End of Shift reports; records patient behavior.
* Participates in direct patient care including ensuring patient safety and interacting therapeutically.
* Assists in the activities of patients' daily schedule.
* Recognizes signs of emotional distress, escalation, and behavioral instability and responds appropriately
* Assists with de-escalation, behavioral crisis intervention and emergency response procedures as appropriate
* Performs all aspects of patient belongings processing for new admissions and resulting from visitations, including search, debugging, and delivery.
* Assists patients with packing of belongings in preparation for discharge.
* Monitors Business Center/Workflex for patient compliance with rules and schedules.
* Monitors patient activities at the Wellness Center.
* Partner with Clinical Coordinator to conduct a welcoming New Patient Orientation.
* Assists with all aspects of visitation program, including greeting, sign-in, orientation, search and belongings processing.

* Demonstrates understanding of recovery-oriented systems of care, including 12-Step principles, relapse prevention, and patient-centered recovery approaches.
* Aids and instructs clients in facilitation and presentation of the RCA Clinical Curriculum with corresponding notes in medical records system.
* May assist in transporting patients and/or patient belongings (as applicable)
* Is proficient with all technology hardware, company systems and tools required to perform duties.
* Demonstrates appropriate confidentiality when interacting with patients, residents, families, visitors, referral sources, and all other contacts.
* Exhibits excellent customer relation skills as evidenced by supportive and constructive communication with all contacts including co-workers, patients, residents, visitors, families, and referral sources.
* Perform any other job-related duties as assigned.

 

Minimum Qualifications:
* High school diploma or equivalent.
* Experience of 1 year working in substance use disorder treatment is preferred.
* Excellent organizational skills with the ability to prioritize workload and meet deadlines.
* Ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
* Proficiency with all technology hardware, systems and tools required to perform duties; training will be provided as needed.
* Familiarity with behavior modification and 12-step modality.

 

Competencies:
Customer Service: Demonstrates concern for meeting internal and external customers' needs in a manner that provides satisfaction for the customer within the resources that can be made available.

 

Problem Solving: Identifies problems, involves others in seeking solutions, and conducts appropriate analyses, searches for best solutions; responds quickly to new challenges.

 

Communication Proficiency: Comfortable using a broad range of communication styles, and ability to choose appropriate, effective ways to communicate to different audiences in diverse situations.

 

Flexibility: Is open to change and new information; adapts behavior and work methods in response to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles. Adjusts rapidly to new situations warranting attention and resolution. Is willing to assume new responsibilities if the quality of patient care dictates.

 

Time Management: Uses his or her time effectively and efficiently; concentrates his or her efforts on the most important priorities; adeptly handles several tasks at once.

 

Work Environment:
This position operates within a behavioral health environment, including residential, inpatient and/or detoxification settings. This role requires frequent interaction with patients experiencing mental health, substance use, emotional and behavioral challenges. The environment may include exposure to emotionally distressed individuals, behavioral escalation, and crisis situations. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. Routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, tablets and photocopiers.

Physical Demands:
The requirements listed below are representative of the physical abilities required to successfully perform this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to talk or listen. The employee frequently is required to use hands to finger, handle or feel objects, tools, or controls. The employee is constantly required to walk and stand, and occasionally required to sit, reach with hands and arms, climb or balance, and stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl. The employee must regularly lift and/or move objects up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, and the ability to adjust focus.

 

Travel: Travel is primarily local during the business day, although some out-of-the-area and overnight travel may be expected.

 

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a full listing of activities, duties or responsibilities required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Non-Discrimination Statement:
It is the policy of Recovery Centers of America (RCA) to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital status, citizenship, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

 

State Specific Responsibilities:
Follows organizational cybersecurity policies, including acceptable use, password management, and multi-factor authentication requirements. Immediately reports suspected security incidents, unauthorized access, or data breaches in accordance with company policy and regulatory requirements. Maintains strict confidentiality of PHI and adheres to the principle of least privilege, accessing only the minimum necessary data required to perform job functions.