Recovery Support Specialist Certificate

Career Description

Graduates will be prepared for careers that work alongside and assist professionals in community and social welfare agencies, mental health and social service agencies, community organizations, and habilitation and rehabilitation agencies. Graduates may work in positions such as: Mental Health Behavior Aide, Personal Home Care Aide, Group Home Worker, Direct Support Professionals, Community Health Worker, and Advocate.

Program Information

The Recovery Support Specialist Certificate prepares students for entry-level positions supporting individuals recovering from substance use and mental health challenges. Students will learn core concepts, skills, and techniques for providing trauma-informed care and recovery support, which includes industry specific certification opportunities embedded within the program. Graduates will have developed the competence, compassion, and confidence to support individuals in recovery.

Program Outcomes:

Graduates will be able to:

• Effectively utilize a sequence of recovery support skills;
• Demonstrate strength-based interventions in client engagement;
• Demonstrate skills to help, empower, and advocate;
• Demonstrate understanding of ethics and boundaries in the helping relationship; and
• Demonstrate skills of self-regulation, social awareness and co-regulation, and teamwork.

Special Program Requirements

In addition to the program requirements, students must meet the following conditions in order to graduate:

• College Cumulative GPA Requirement: cumulative grade point average (GPA) of credits attempted and completed at CLC must be at least 2.0;
• College Technical Core GPA Requirement: cumulative GPA of credits attempted and completed towards the technical core of the diploma or degree must be at least 2.0;
• Residency Requirement: students must complete 25% of their credits at Central Lakes College.

Certification

Certification and training opportunities include: Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP I), Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM), and Adverse Childhood Experience (ACES/Near Science)

Employment Statistics

For more information regarding employment statistics, career salary information and estimated job growth, follow the resource links below:

https://apps.deed.state.mn.us/lmi/ces/
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/home.htm
Salary information from indeed.com