MAINTAINING YOUR CERTIFICATION

The National Certified Recovery Specialist (NCRS) is required to pay a biennial certification fee and submit 40 continuing education units (CEUs) every two years.

Each certified recovery specialist will be notified that his or her certification is about to expire no fewer than 30 days prior to the expiration date. The recovery specialist shall pay the biennial certification fee, submit CEUs and an evaluation from an NCRS credentialed supervisor (or peer) in the community-based recovery field, after receiving such notification.  Forms for the documentation of CEUs will accompany the notification, and the CEU form must be completed.  CEUs should not be submitted until notification of expiration. CEUS will not be accepted by fax.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

The purpose of continuing education is to promote ongoing professional development.  It benefits those who use the services of the extended care facilities or recovery homes, the recovery specialist, and the recovery profession. The recovery specialist will build upon their previously demonstrated competencies and demonstrate their professional development through pursuit of continuing education.

A.            Continuing Education Policy

1.             Forty (40) continuing education units (CEUs), every two years, are required to maintain certification and must be earned within the two-year certification period.  An average of 20 CEUs should be obtained each year. For certification maintenance purposes, these CEUs are not transferable to any other certification period.  CEUS obtained prior to the recovery specialist’s initial date of certification are not eligible to be used for maintaining certification.  A recovery specialist may receive CEU credit only once for a training event, even if the event is repeated during different certification periods.

2.             All 40 CEUs required to maintain certification must be recognized or petitioned for IAODAPCA CEUs.  Continuing education is broken down into two categories.  Some continuing education may be recognized by IAODAPCA for both categories.

·         CATEGORY I - Minimum 15 CEUs of education specific to residential extended care or recovery home services.

National Certified Recovery Specialists who are also IAODAPCA Certified Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (AODA) Counselors, need only submit 10 Category I recovery specialist specific CEUs and proof of current IAODAPCA certification every two (2) years.  Category II CEUs are not required.

·         CATEGORY II - Minimum 25 CEUs of education relevant to residential extended care or recovery home services including but not limited to: case management, ethics, dynamics of addiction, crisis intervention, self-help and recovery and legal and professional responsibility. 

3.             A CEU is defined as equivalent to one clock hour spent in a continuing education program.  (Excluded is non-program time such as coffee breaks, social hours, registration time, meal times, etc.)   One college or university semester hour of credit will be the equivalent of 15 CEUs, and one college or university quarter hour of credit will be the equivalent of 10 CEUs.

4.             The recovery specialist may request an extension if he or she is unable to meet the continuing education requirements for recertification.

5.             Petition is the process whereby a recovery specialist requests recognition of programs not currently recognized by IAODAPCA.

B.            Sources of Continuing Education Units

1.             Recognized programs are training/education programs IAODAPCA has identified as fulfilling the criteria for CEU credit and have been awarded CEUs by IAODAPCA or are pre-recognized sources.  The certificate of completion will contain the program number assigned by IAODAPCA, the number of CEUs, and the category. 

2.             College and university courses offered by accredited institutions as credit toward a degree.

3.             Structured individual continuing education, such as IAODAPCA Bibliocredit Program and other self-study programs, is available to recovery specialists with a maximum of 15 CEUs every two (2) years.

4.             Recovery specialists may receive up to 12 Category II CEUs every two years for volunteer time serving as a member of the Board of Directors, a member of a Board committee, or a member of another IAODAPCA committee.

5.             Research papers, professional publications in the recovery field: A recovery specialist may obtain up to 15 CEUs every two years for papers accepted for publication, reading, or discussion at a professional meeting or conference.  The topic must pertain to the field of extended care or recovery home.  The work can be counted only once, even though presented in more than one format or location.