Licensed Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor

To be eligible for licensure as an Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor, an applicant must:

1. Have received a master’s degree or doctorate in a human services field from an accredited educational institution, including degrees in counseling, social work, psychology or in an allied mental health field, or a master’s degree or higher in a health care profession regulated under Title 33 or Title 26, after having successfully completed a course of study with course work, including theories of human development, diagnostic and counseling techniques, and professional ethics, and which includes a supervised clinical practicum, and
2. Have been awarded an Approved Counselor credential from the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs in accordance with these rules.

Approved Counselor Credential

Counselors who have been certified at the reciprocal level by a member board of the International Certification & Reciprocity Consortium/Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse, Inc. (IC&RC) may be accepted for an Approved Counselor credential from the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse programs. The Division Director will periodically monitor the standards of the IC&RC to assure adequacy. The kind of IC&RC certification received will depend on factors such as experience and training.

Continuing Education Credit

1. Requirement for Continuing Education

·        Licenses shall be renewed every two years upon payment of the required fee under statute, provided the person applying for renewal completes at least 40 hours of continuing education approved by the Director of the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs and there is no other problem with renewal. Counselors who present verification of current certification by a member board of the IC&RC will be deemed to have met this continuing education requirement.

B.     Guidelines and Criteria for Continuing Education Credit

·        Only 50% (20 hours) of the total hours of continuing education may be carried over from the last licensing period (if they were not used then) into the current period. Hours which are carried over must have been obtained in the last year of the last licensing period. It is also expected that the applicant will be able to show how on-going clinical support has been achieved.

·        Education/training must consist of a minimum of 40 hours within the last two years. Those clock hours must be comprised of the following:

1. Workshops, conferences, and seminars—a minimum of 70 percent of the 40 hours, or 28 hours.
2. In-service hours may be used for a maximum of 15 in-service hours at a 33 1/3 percent credit rate; that is, for every three hours of in-service training, only one hour may be used for credit. In service is defined as the education and training which occurs within the counselor’s agency, for agency staff. The education and training must be specific to the field of alcohol and drug abuse treatment. Training which is non-specific to alcohol and/or drug abuse training may be used but only with a thorough justification as to its relation to the field. One hour of credit is allowed for every 3 hours of in-service training with a limit of 15 hours total for credentialing or recredentialing. Supervision, staff meetings, or case conferences are not deemed eligible for hour credit. Documentation of in-service training will consist of a written statement from the employer stating the number of contact hours attended by the employee.
3. Teaching hours: Up to 15 of the 40 required hours may be earned while teaching an approved training event. Credit for teaching is on a 50 percent basis, i.e. one hour of licensing credit for every two hours of teaching.

Guidelines for approval for trainings eligible for credentialing and recredentialing as a licensed/certified alcohol and drug abuse counselor consist of the following:

a.      The topic of the training must be appropriate to the needs of an alcohol and drug abuse counselor.

b.      The training must address the 12 core functions of an IC&RC Counselor.

c.      The trainer (presenter) must have demonstrated competence in the subject of the training.

d.      The number of hours requested must be no greater than the actual number of hours in training.