Update from the SRC

2016 Standards Revision Committee: Working on Draft 2

The 2016 CACREP Standards Revision Committee (SRC) was formed and charged with the task of writing the Standards that will go into effect in 2016. The SRC has communicated its intention to develop Standards that will (a) promote the development of a unified professional counselor identity, (b) ensure that programs collect evidence that students have acquired knowledge and skill competencies, and (c) remain relevant through 2024. To accomplish these goals, the SRC adopted the motto, “Clarify, Simplify, Unify” to guide its work.

Draft 1 was developed with feedback received from annual reports by CACREP accredited programs, attendees at the ACES conference in 2011, and CACREP accredited doctoral programs through an online survey. Draft 1 was made available electronically through the CACREP website at the end of August 2012. The SRC solicited feedback on Draft 1 at each ACES regional conferences last fall, and online through January 15, 2013. The SRC met in January to review the feedback, and is currently working on Draft 2. The feedback received was extensive, and the SRC is still working through much of it. The content that follows is a brief summary of the SRC’s revisions, feedback, and future plans to date.

Clarify

In Draft 1, the SRC made efforts to clarify specific terms, standards, or sections of the standards document. It revised language in many cases to make the standards more concrete and specific. Feedback received to date supported many of these changes, and also helped to identify additional terms or areas where clarification is desired. As it works on Draft 2, the SRC not only is attempting to clarify the newly identified areas, but also is preparing an updated Glossary to be disseminated in conjunction with Draft 2. Further, feedback suggested that additional clarification of the Evaluation section would be helpful, and the SRC anticipates making revisions in that section as well.

Simplify

In Draft 1 the SRC also attempted to simplify the standards. Efforts in this doman included eliminating redundancy throughout the document, removing specific examples listed parenthetically in individual standards, and decreasing the number of individual standards in each program area. Much of the feedback to date supported these changes. Some feedback, however, requested the inclusion of additional content areas, mainly in the program area standards. The SRC is reviewing the suggestions and considering how to include all relevant knowledge and skill areas while also keeping the overall number of standards manageable.

Unify

In Draft 1 the SRC made efforts to unify the counseling profession by (a) expanding the core standards (in Section II) to include those that are important to ALL entry-level counselors, (b) revising requirements for the doctoral level internship, and (c) requiring that each entry-level program be comprised of an equivalent of 60 semester credit hours by July 2020. Feedback suggested strong support for the first two items, with mixed feedback regarding the 60 credit hour requirement. The SRC, thus, is in the process of interpreting and making the best decisions with the information and feedback available (e.g., whether naming specific professional organizations in the Standards serves to unify versus disenfranchise).

Next Steps

The SRC will conduct a session at the ACA Conference in Cincinnati during which it will review the feedback received thus far in more detail, seek additional feedback in a few key areas, and discuss general plans to move forward. Draft 2 will be completed and disseminated in September 2013, and the SRC will solicit feedback on Draft 2 at the ACES conference in Denver as well as online. Everyone is encouraged to contribute their feedback in order to ultimately inform the development of the 2016 Standards.