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| Issue:
#5 |
Summer
2008 |
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Dear Credentialed
Persons and Applicants,
The Board office has been flooded with inquiries
since the release of last week's Board Buzz.
Although the office staff will attempt to answer
each and every inquiry it receives separately,
please thoroughly read last week's Board Buzz
again. Many of the questions that have been asked
can be answered simply by reviewing this document.
Please read the following information carefully
and share it with your colleagues. |
| Senate
Bill 2117's Impact on Credentialing Process |
The
CSAC and LCAS Written Exam
All CSAC and LCAS applicants that took the written
examination prior to the June 2008 administration
and that are not yet fully certified or licensed
by the Board will be required to take and pass the
newly compiled CSAC or LCAS written exam.
The written exam now includes questions to test
one's competency--a skill set that was originally
tested using the oral examinaton. The International
Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC)
requires that one pass this examination in pursuit
of one's credential. One must still complete all
other credentialing standards before he/she will
receive his/her certificate and credential number.
As was reported in last week's article, the Board
office has updated study guides available for the
CSAC and the LCAS exam. The CSAC study guide can
be purchased for $50 while the LCAS study guide
costs $29. Please write the Board and request the
study guide you desire along with a check or money
order.
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NC
Winter School Scholarship |
The application
period for the 2008 NC Winter School will begin
this Friday, August 1st.
If you hold a Board credential and wish to apply
for this scholarship, please write the Board office
and request consideration. Please include a statement
about your individual financial need. Also, please
include your contact information, credential number
and expiration date.
The deadline to make application for this scholarship
is Friday, August 29th. |
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Thank you for your
help in disseminating this information to the Board's
membership and other interested parties. I truly
appreciate your dedication to this field and to
the Board.
Sincerely,
Anna Misenheimer
North Carolina Substance Abuse Professional Practice
Board |
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| Issue:
#4 |
Summer
2008 |
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| Dear Credentialed
Persons and Applicants, By
now you're sure to have heard there are some major
changes taking effect with the Board. Below is the
real scoop! Please read the following information
carefully and share it with your colleagues. |
| Big
News from the Board |
Earlier this month,
the General Assembly of North Carolina enacted Senate
Bill 2117, Amend Substance Abuse Professionals Act.
Senate Bill 2117 was sponsored by Martin Nesbitt and
Martha Alexander sponsored the House companion bill
(H2746). The bill passed the General Assembly without
a dissenting vote in either chamber.
This legislation promotes workforce development by
streamlining the application process with the elimination
of the oral examination and removal of the 2,000 hour
post-master's degree work experience requirement for
Criteria B LCAS applicants. It also updates terminology
in keeping with other licensing boards.
The most substantive change as a result of this recent
legislation is the elimination of the oral examination
from the credentialing process. The oral exam was
the means by which a counselor's competency was tested.
As the International Certification and Reciprocity
Consortium (IC&RC) updated its written examination
for the CSAC and LCAS credential in June to include
questions to test one's competency and voted to eliminate
the oral exam as an IC&RC requirement, this legislation
also eliminates this component as a credentialing
standard in North Carolina.
As a consequence, counselors who are scheduled to
sit for the September oral exam will instead be registered
to sit for the updated written exam in September.
These applicants will not be required to pay any additional
fees to sit for the September written exam. Correspondence
will be mailed to these applicants within the next
two weeks.
The September written exam will be administered at
The McKimmon Center in Raleigh instead of The Quality
Inn in Burlington, NC. All counselors who are scheduled
for the September written exam will receive a notice
regarding the new testing site.
Elimination of the oral examination will also impact
the process by which Criteria C LCAS applicants obtain
the license. One making application under this Criteria
will now be required to sit for the written examination
instead of the oral examination.
There are study guides available for both the updated
CSAC and the LCAS written exams. The CSAC study guide
can be purchased for $50 while the LCAS study guide
costs $29. Please write the Board and request the
study guide you desire along with a check or money
order. The Board office will mail the study guide
on the same day in which a request is received.
One will still be required to complete all credentialing
standards (work experience and educational hours)
before his/her certificate or license will be awarded
and mailed to the counselor.
Another major change enacted by this legislation is
the elimination of the required 2,000 hours of post-master's
degree work experience for a Criteria B LCAS applicant.
Since these counselors have already completed over
6,000 hours of work experience in order to obtain
the CSAC, this will streamline their LCAS application
process.
There are other implications of the bill's passage.
Terminology has been updated from a "clinical
addictions specialist intern" to a "provisional
licensed clinical addictions specialist" in keeping
with terminology used throughout other health and
human services professions. A full article outlining
the details of Senate Bill 2117 is forthcoming in
the Board's Summer 2008 newsletter. |
A
Note on Contacting the Board Office:
PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THE BOARD BUZZ |
| It recently came
to the attention of the Board staff that many of our
applicants and credentialed persons were replying
to the Board Buzz newsletter as a way of trying to
contact the Board. Many
of these inquiries went unanswered as the Board
Buzz is delivered using a "dummy" email
address. Should you wish to contact the Board staff
directly, please use the following email addresses:
Anna Misenheimer
Barden Culbreth
Paola Ribadeniera
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Thank you for all you
do! The Board and its staff hope your transition to
the new procedures is a smooth one.
Sincerely,
Anna Misenheimer
North Carolina Substance Abuse Professional Practice
Board |
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