ACES Counselor Corner Newsletter- July 2024

This article was published on July 3rd, in the ACES Counselor Corner newsletter, pertaining to updates about CACREP’s 2024 Standards and accreditation management system.

This summer there have been two significant changes with CACREP, namely, the implementation of the 2024 CACREP Standards and the launching of an Accreditation Management System.

2024 CACREP Standards

The 2024 CACREP Standards are in effect beginning July 1, 2024. In the year since the Standards were made public, CACREP has been hard at work developing resources that would support programs in seeking initial accreditation and provide guidance to currently accredited programs maintain their accredited status or seeking re-affirmation of their accredited status prior to the end of their current grant of accreditation.

The 2024 CACREP Standards Resource Page is your one-stop shop. What you will find here are:

The CACREP Program Liaison is the official intermediary between the accredited program and the CACREP office.  Therefore, it is imperative that there be a designated CACREP Program Liaison at all times. This is the person with whom CACREP communicates regarding significant/new information and provides updates to on a monthly basis. CACREP continues to encourage the Liaison to keep all program faculty informed. 

Accreditation Management System (AMS)

The CACREP Accreditation Management System (AMS) was launched in May 2024. We continue to roll it out gradually so as not to overwhelm programs on the scope and complexity of the AMS. The first step was to provide login access to the program’s dashboard to the administrative contacts on record with CACREP: the institution’s President, the program’s Dean, the program’s Department Chair, and the CACREP Program Liaison. These four individuals will see on the dashboard, among other things, their institutional information, program/specialized practice areas, accreditation cycle and status information, report due dates, and fee status.

As is the long-standing practice, it is the program’s responsibility to maintain currency and accuracy of all program administrators and their contact information. The CACREP Program Liaison and Department Chair are the two individuals who have the authority/permission within the system to submit change forms to the CACREP office to ensure currency and accuracy of administrative contact information for the record and are the two individuals who have access to reports.

The CACREP Program Liaison has been provided access to the 2024 CACREP Standards Application for Accreditation in the AMS and instructions for use is available through a video walkthrough. Some programs prefer to initially work with Word documents before interacting with the online platform. For their benefit, on the resource page is a downloadable draft 2024 Standards Self-Study Template, a range of downloadable forms that may be used to document evidence of compliance with the Standards, and the Application Signature page.

CACREP encourages you to immerse yourself in the available resources to understand and implement the 2024 CACREP Standards. Every attempt has been made to remove the guesswork about the letter and spirit of the Standards. These resources eliminate the need for the how to write a self-study workshop of the past. There will be additional targeted informational webinars in the near future hosted by ACES and CACREP. Stay tuned for further information from each of these organizations.

As a gentle reminder of this policy shared with you on 5/26/2023:

Use of New Standards. When CACREP implements new or revised standards, programs submitting applications for accreditation or reaffirmation of accreditation on or after the effective date of the new standards must demonstrate compliance with the new standards.

 All programs currently accredited must come into compliance with the new standards within two years of the effective date of the new standards. All reports submitted on or after the two-year transition period must be based on the new standards. CACREP will conduct all reviews and make all accreditation and monitoring decisions based on the new standards following completion of the two-year transition period.

Programs submitting reports in the interim during the two-year transition period may elect to submit reports under either set of standards, unless otherwise directed. All reviews and decisions following the two-year transition period will be based on the new standards.  

The 2024 CACREP Standards go into effect on July 1, 2024. All self-study reports (SSR) submitted on and after this date must be based on this new set of standards. All programs accredited based on the 2016 CACREP Standards or a prior set of standards, must come into compliance with the 2024 CACREP Standards no later than June 30, 2026. Programs will not be required to submit a report documenting their compliance.

However, beginning July 1, 2026, all required reports submitted must be based on the 2024 CACREP Standards regardless of the set of standards under which the program was granted its current accreditation. Board reviews and accreditation and monitoring decisions will be based on the 2024 CACREP Standards.

If you have any questions, please email CACREP at [email protected] or call your program’s CACREP staff point of contact at 703-535-5990.