Esteemed Colleagues, counselors, students and stakeholders,
We have held off on providing an update on our status in hopes that our efforts to have an extension to the state imposed June 15thdeadline would be granted. As tomorrow is the 15thit is clear that our appeals at the county and state, and yes, even the federal level have had no impact and no extension to the deadline will be granted. In our appeal we sited the significant burden this deadline has placed on the workforce. We also sited that there is the potential for many to lose their jobs that have not been able to transfer to other agencies because of the inability of those agencies to provide for the sheer volume of counselors needing certification.
The reason we have advocated so vigorously for the extension is because of our full awareness that our loss of accreditation is at the core of this crisis. We were hopeful that the state would also see this as the crisis that it is and act to extend the deadline. We, of course, are aware of state regulations and that the process for such requests takes time, which we are now out of, so now we look to beyond June 15th.
Our application for re-accreditation is approximately half way through the process and every indication is that we will be approved and recognized by the NCCA to certify again in August. As of the date of this letter the ACCBC still has approximately 8900 current (meaning still recognized by us as paid and in good standing) CATCs or those registered to become CATCs. We realize that many of you needed to acquire another certification to remain valid during this crisis and now possess duel certification with two agencies. In other words, when we are once again a recognized certifying body you will hold a CATC and whatever other credential you acquired.
We truly appreciate the dozens of calls we receive each day asking when you can come back to the ACCBC. We also feel a great deal of empathy and compassion for those of you who have struggled greatly with this process and we will continue to do whatever we can to help.
What this means to you if you are certified or registered though the ACCBC (once we are approved):
- If you are one of the current (recognized as paid and in good standing) 8900 CATCs or Registrants with the ACCBC and want to remain with us, you don’t need to do anything. You are already valid in our system. When your renewal is due, you would just renew with us with your CEUs like normal and not renew with the other agency. If your renewal was due anytime during the period of our loss of accreditation, you are still recognized as valid in our system and your renewal would be due upon our reinstatement by the NCCA, and you will not be charged any late fees or penalized in any way for a lapse.
- If you left the ACCBC and are no longer current (not recognized as paid and in good standing and received a refund) with us but have current certification with another agency and want to return to the ACCBC, you can transfer back to us at no cost to you and we will honor the new expiration date of your current credential.
- If you left the ACCBC and are no longer current (not recognized as paid and in good standing and received a refund) with us and are not current with another agency, you can reapply with us following our new policies and procedures implemented during our reorganization. This does not apply to those who came up for renewal during our down time (see #1).
- The ACCBC will no longer be charging non-member fees (we find it to be unethical and it creates an undue financial burden), you do not need to hold membership with “any” organization to qualify for listed registration or certification fees.
We are looking forward with great anticipation to the future of the ACCBC and the entire CAADE organization as we continue to grow, evolve and regain the trust of the profession. We are sincerely grateful to all of you who have stood by us during this challenging time and who are waiting to rejoin our ranks to continue leading the charge for higher standards for addiction treatment counselors in the state of California and beyond.
With great gratitude, respect and sincerity,
Drew Williams, MA, CATC IV
Chair, ACCBC
office@accbc.org
