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Drug Counselor Salary

By Ashley Boyce, an allied health world staff writer
Published: February, 27 2010

What is the average substance abuse counselor salary?

During internships, students typically earn between $20,000 and $25,000 yearly. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the middle 50 percent of those who have begun their substance abuse counselor careers earn between $23,000 and $39,000 yearly. The substance abuse counselor salary for the top 10 percent is over $53,000 a year. Pay can be dependent on the type of agency; whether it’s a non-profit or privately owned for-profit agency, but salaries are typically within a similar range in either type of agency. In some very expensive private facilities that cater to the wealthy, salaries may be higher.

What’s the job market like for chemical dependency counselors?

Everybody in the industry seems to be saying the same thing: There’s a shortage of trained chemical dependency professionals which has created case loads for existing CDPs that are much larger than is ideal. The obvious problem with an inadequate number of CDPs in practice is the fact that their time and attention is diffused among the many people in their care, making it more difficult for them to offer the level of quality individual attention that is known to lead to greater success rates. Because there is a continued and increasing need for trained CDPs and a private sector that is very willing to create privately owned for-profit chemical dependency agencies, job prospects do not necessarily hinge on how much municipal, state, or federal money is allocated for these types of social programs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects much faster than average growth in this industry and expects a 21% increase in the number of counselors employed by 2016. This is an industry that will continue to be in high demand with plenty of opportunities for employment in various settings.

Who pays for treatment and how much does it cost?

Treatment services provided through privately owned, for-profit chemical dependency clinics are paid for by the voluntary or court-mandated clients who use the services. In these instances there is no public money; city, state, federal, or otherwise, that’s used to pay for the treatment. Some people opt to seek treatment through privately owned for-profit agencies because of the stigma associated with visiting a non-profit clinic where there is no exclusivity regarding who qualifies to receive care. When there is a court mandate to satisfy some chemical dependency treatment requirements, people still have the option to choose where they will seek their treatment. There is a huge variance in the cost of treatment provided through the many for-profit agencies, and as would be expected they tend to be more expensive than non-profits. 30 days of inpatient treatment in these types of facilities usually costs between $2500 and $5000, but some higher profile clinics may charge much more than this. Out-patient services don’t include the same level of around the clock care or room and board, so are often available at about a third the cost of in-patient treatment. Although employment settings differ among for-profit and non-profit facilities, substance abuse counselor education programs provide the same training in all cases

Non-profit treatment facilities acquire their funds from a variety of sources. These agencies are not necessarily universally free. Patients who have an income high enough to be able to afford the cost of treatment are expected to pay. The cost of the services to patients is assessed on a sliding scale based on the individual’s level of income and the dependants supported on that income. The full cost to patients for services provided at Sydney Love’s outpatient methadone clinic, is only $380 monthly, which is far from enough to cover the actual expense. This $380 includes group and individual counseling, childcare services, as well as daily methadone doses. Most of the money to subsidize the cost of operating one of these non-profit clinics comes from municipal tax revenue. Some of the money; however, is acquired in the form of grants from the federal government that have to be applied for on an ongoing basis. Many non-profit clinics employ a full time grant writer who works to acquire federal money appropriated for these types of social programs. It is worth mentioning that substance abuse counselor training in grant writing is beyond the scope of stardard CDP programs.

How do municipalities justify the cost associated with publicly funded drug and alcohol treatment programs?

Ultimately the decision to allocate tax revenue for the purpose of providing treatment, counseling, methadone, and even housing for the mentally ill, homeless, and addicted comes down to the bottom line. Municipal governments can’t help but notice the tremendous expense associated with this segment of the population when left to their own vices. A city can absorb millions of dollars of costs associated with emergency room visits and EMS calls for indigent addicts regarding issues that could be far less costly if addressed proactively. There is also tremendous cost and an unnecessary burden placed on the municipal judicial system because of arrests associated with vagrancy, trespassing, public intoxication, urinating and defecating in public, and police calls to address other antisocial or disruptive behavior. It has been recognized that by addressing these issues proactively so as to provide some level of regular preventative medical attention before emergency medical attention is required, and providing a place where the homeless can sleep and use the bathroom without being subject to arrest, is far less expensive in the big picture than it is to allow this type of self-destructive and antisocial behavior to continue without intervention.

The Seattle City Council has established what’s called the Seattle Safer Streets Initiative as a way to addresses these very issues, and to deal with the allocation of budgets for this type of preventative assistance. The city council working in conjunction with Seattle’s Mayor have allocated half a million dollars from the Mental Illness and Drug Dependency (MIDD) Fund to create a joint police-mental health response team designed to respond to incidents where alternatives to jail or hospitalization are appropriate. They provide rapid support to individuals in crisis while freeing neighborhood patrol officers to maintain basic police services. Another half million dollars of MIDD funds are being diverted to assist in the housing and addiction counseling of children involved in prostitution, nearly all of which have chemical dependency and mental health issues. $4.5 million of MIDD money has been allocated for the creation of a Crisis Diversion Center designed for individuals in crisis where jail booking or hospitalization isn’t required or appropriate.

It is too soon to determine how much the millions invested in these 2008 and 2009 initiatives will end up saving tax payers, but they are sure to be successful since they have been modeled after similar initiatives enacted in other cities where tens of millions have been saved through these preventative measures.