DescriptionDrug and Alcohol Supervisor
Reports To
Director of Behavioral Health and Drug & Alcohol
Position Type
Full-time / Exempt
Position Summary
The Drug and Alcohol Supervisor is responsible for providing clinical, administrative, and programmatic supervision for drug and alcohol treatment services. This position supports high-quality service delivery, staff development, documentation compliance, client safety, ethical practice, and adherence to applicable agency policies, payer requirements, licensing standards, and confidentiality rules.
The supervisor provides guidance to counselors, case managers, peer support staff, interns, and other assigned team members. The role may include reviewing clinical documentation, monitoring treatment planning, supporting crisis response, coaching staff, reviewing service quality, and ensuring that drug and alcohol services are delivered in a professional, client-centered, and compliant manner.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Clinical Supervision
The Drug and Alcohol Supervisor will:
- Provide regular individual and/or group supervision to assigned staff.
- Review clinical cases, treatment progress, barriers, risk concerns, and service needs.
- Support staff in applying evidence-informed and client-centered approaches.
- Monitor staff use of appropriate boundaries, ethical decision-making, and professional conduct.
- Assist staff in responding to complex client situations, including relapse, crisis, safety concerns, non-engagement, and co-occurring needs.
- Provide coaching on treatment planning, intervention selection, discharge planning, and care coordination.
- Ensure that services remain aligned with the client’s assessed needs, treatment goals, and level of care.
Documentation Oversight
The Drug and Alcohol Supervisor will:
- Review assessments, treatment plans, progress notes, discharge summaries, releases of information, and other clinical records.
- Ensure documentation is timely, accurate, objective, clinically relevant, and complete.
- Coach staff on correcting common documentation errors, including vague notes, missing client responses, lack of treatment-plan connection, unsupported conclusions, and copy-and-paste documentation.
- Monitor whether documentation supports services provided, clinical necessity, billing requirements, and continuity of care.
- Ensure that corrections, late entries, and addenda are completed in accordance with agency procedure.
- Address repeated documentation concerns through coaching, corrective action, or additional training as needed.
Service Delivery and Quality Assurance
The Drug and Alcohol Supervisor will:
- Monitor the quality and consistency of drug and alcohol services.
- Ensure that assigned staff provide services in accordance with agency procedures, program expectations, and client needs.
- Support continuity of care through timely referrals, coordination, follow-up, and discharge planning.
- Review service delivery concerns, client complaints, missed appointments, and service disruptions.
- Participate in quality assurance activities, chart audits, case reviews, and compliance reviews.
- Recommend process improvements to strengthen service delivery and client outcomes.
Staff Training and Development
The Drug and Alcohol Supervisor will:
- Train, coach, and mentor assigned staff.
- Support onboarding of new counselors, interns, and program staff.
- Identify staff training needs based on supervision, audits, incidents, and performance trends.
- Provide guidance on documentation standards, confidentiality, mandated reporting, crisis procedures, treatment planning, and ethical practice.
- Support staff development plans and performance improvement goals.
Risk, Crisis, and Safety Responsibilities
The Drug and Alcohol Supervisor will:
- Provide consultation when staff identifies safety, relapse, impairment, overdose risk, suicidal ideation, homicidal ideation, abuse, neglect, exploitation, or other crisis concerns.
- Ensure appropriate risk assessments, safety plans, referrals, and follow-up actions are completed and documented.
- Support staff in determining when emergency services, higher levels of care, mandated reports, or supervisor escalation are needed.
- Review incidents and participate in corrective action planning when needed.
- Promote a safe and professional environment for clients, staff, and visitors.
Confidentiality and Compliance
The Drug and Alcohol Supervisor will:
- Promote compliance with confidentiality, privacy, consent, information release, and recordkeeping requirements.
- Ensure staff understands the importance of protecting substance use disorder information.
- Monitor the appropriate handling of information releases and external communications.
- Support compliance with applicable state regulations, payer standards, agency policies, and licensing expectations.
- Report suspected breaches, documentation concerns, or compliance issues in accordance with agency procedure.
Administrative and Program Duties
The Drug and Alcohol Supervisor may:
- Assign or review staff caseloads.
- Monitor productivity, service access, and documentation completion.
- Assist with scheduling, coverage, and workflow planning.
- Participate in staff meetings, leadership meetings, audits, and program reviews.
- Prepare reports related to service delivery, documentation, compliance, or staff performance.
- Support hiring, orientation, performance evaluation, corrective action, and staff retention efforts.
- Collaborate with external providers, referral sources, courts, hospitals, community agencies, and payers when appropriate and authorized.
Supervisory responsibilities may include assigning work, reviewing documentation, providing coaching, approving clinical records, monitoring performance, supporting corrective action, and ensuring compliance with agency expectations.
QualificationsMaster's Degree from an accredited college with a major in medicine, chemical dependency, psychology, social work, counseling, nursing with a clinical specialty in administration or human services, or another related field; and 2 years of clinical experience in a health or human service agency, including 1 year working directly with chemically dependent individuals
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior supervisory experience in a drug and alcohol, behavioral health, or human services program.
- Experience reviewing clinical documentation, treatment plans, assessments, progress notes, and discharge summaries.
- Knowledge of substance use disorder treatment, recovery-oriented care, co-occurring disorders, relapse prevention, and care coordination.
- Experience with crisis response, safety planning, mandated reporting, and referral to higher levels of care.
- Familiarity with confidentiality requirements, releases of information, and substance use disorder record protections.
- Experience using electronic health records.
- Strong staff coaching, documentation review, and performance feedback skills.
Core Competencies
- Strong clinical judgment.
- Ability to supervise counselors and support staff.
- Knowledge of documentation standards and service delivery expectations.
- Ability to identify documentation errors and coach staff toward corrections.
- Clear communication and conflict-resolution skills.
- Understanding of ethical practice, professional boundaries, and client confidentiality.
- Ability to support quality assurance, chart audits, and compliance reviews.
- Commitment to client-centered, trauma-informed, and recovery-oriented care.
This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications. Duties may be modified based on program needs, regulatory requirements, funding requirements, and agency policy.
