Connecticut Administrative Code › Title 20 - Professional and Occupational Licensing, Certification › 74o - Criteria and Procedures for Substance Abuse Counselor Certification › Section 20-74o-2 - Certification process

Current through July 10, 2024
A candidate who applies for certification as a substance abuse
				counselor may be certified in the area of alcoholism or drug abuse or
				both.
(a)
Eligibility.
A
			 substance abuse counselor shall be eligible for certification by the
			 commission:
(1) When the applicant
			 demonstrates he has been certified by the board and such certification is in
			 good standing at the time of the application for commission
			 certification.
(2) The applicant
			 provides evidence to the commission that the applicant has acquired the minimum
			 number of hours of substance abuse counseling experience under clinical
			 supervision as required in subparagraph (B) of this subdivision. Such
			 experience shall be documented according to the area of certification and shall
			 have been accrued within the twelve (12) years prior to application.
(A) Such experience shall be acquired under
			 the clinical supervision of a senior staff member of a treatment facility who
			 has experience and training in substance abuse counseling and whose duties
			 include overseeing client care; and
(B) Such experience shall include a minimum
			 number of hours providing counseling in alcoholism or drug abuse or both to
			 substance abusers as follows:
(i) To be
			 certified as an alcoholism substance abuse counselor, an applicant shall
			 demonstrate that he has provided a minimum of 4,000 hours of alcoholism
			 counseling to substance abusers;
(ii) To be certified as a drug abuse
			 substance abuse counselor an applicant shall demonstrate that he has provided a
			 minimum of 4,000 hours of drug abuse counseling to substance abusers;
(iii) To be certified as both an alcoholism
			 and drug abuse substance abuse counselor, an applicant shall demonstrate that
			 he has provided a minimum of 6,000 hours of counseling to substance
			 abusers;
(iv) At least fifty
			 percent of such counseling shall be acquired through paid employment. The other
			 fifty percent may be acquired through paid employment,internship/practicum
			 experience, or a combination thereof. Every hour of internship/practicum
			 experience shall be credited as if it were one hour of paid employment;
			 and
(3) The
			 applicant provides evidence to the commission that the applicant has completed
			 the minimum amount of training for certification as a substance abuse
			 counselor.
(A) Such training shall be on a
			 specific topic that relates to the counselor's responsibilities. The topics may
			 include but are not limited to client intake, evaluation, orientation and
			 motivation, treatment planning, consultation and referrals, alcoholism and drug
			 abuse education, individual and group counseling, working with family and
			 others, reports and record keeping, client follow-up and aftercare, crisis
			 intervention and outreach.
(B) Such
			 training may be in the form of seminars, conferences, workshops and academic
			 courses which shall be a minimum duration of five hours each.
(C) Such training shall include a minimum of
			 240 hours of training about alcoholism and drug abuse for certification in the
			 single area of alcoholism or drug abuse or shall include a minimum of 360 hours
			 of training about alcoholism and drug abuse for certification in the dual areas
			 of alcoholism and drug abuse.
(i)
			 Certification in the area of alcoholism shall include 120 hours of training
			 about alcoholism.
(ii)
			 Certification in the area of drug abuse shall include 120 hours of training
			 about drug abuse.
(iii)
			 Certification in the area of both alcoholism and drug abuse shall include 120
			 hours of training about drug abuse and 120 hours of training about
			 alcoholism.
(D) Such
			 training shall be documented to indicate that the applicant successfully
			 completed the training. The documentation shall include the date, location, and
			 subject matter of the training. The documentation may take the form of a grade
			 report, transcript, certificate of completion, or memorandum from the
			 instructor.