How To Become A Substance Abuse Services Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a substance abuse services director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a substance abuse services director. For example, did you know that they make an average of $39.95 an hour? That's $83,088 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 64,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSubstance Abuse Services DirectorUS Average

Salary

6.5

Avg. Salary $83,088

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.3

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.62%

Asian 3.12%

Black or African American 7.90%

Hispanic or Latino 7.90%

Unknown 6.24%

White 74.22%

Gender

female 51.89%

male 48.11%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

9.3

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.5

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a substance abuse services director

Explore substance abuse services director education requirements

Most common substance abuse services director degrees

Bachelor's

43.8 %

Master's

42.0 %

Doctorate

6.5 %

Start to develop specific substance abuse services director skills

Skills	Percentages
Substance Abuse	23.58%
Social Work	13.84%
Substance Abuse Treatment	10.46%
Treatment Programs	5.87%
Treatment Services	5.37%

Complete relevant substance abuse services director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New substance abuse services directors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a substance abuse services director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real substance abuse services director resumes.

Research substance abuse services director duties and responsibilities

Manage the departmental budget by adjusting therapist schedules to more efficiently schedule patients.
Re-Accredite program with CARF and new accreditation (CARF) of adolescent outpatient and intensive outpatient program.
Refocuse strategic mission of psychiatry toward integration and support of hospital services.
Perform patient chart audits ensuring proper documentation and patient care are provided per Medicare and Medicaid guidelines.

Get substance abuse services director experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a substance abuse services director. The most common roles before becoming a substance abuse services director include substance abuse counselor, counselor team lead and clinician.

Prepare your substance abuse services director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your substance abuse services director resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a substance abuse services director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable substance abuse services director resume templates

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