A. The Commission chair is responsible for providing orientation to the commission.
B. Disclosure agreement — All persons participating in certification processes who review or use student records during certification reviews will sign and abide by the disclosure agreement (See Appendix 4).
C. Signed disclosure agreements are attached to the report of the subcommittee or committee and become part of the permanent record. The Commission chair or regional committee chair is responsible for implementing this policy.
D. Function of subgroups, e.g. subcommittees
1. The Commission chair is responsible for developing the docket for each meeting of the Commission. Commission subcommittees make decisions to grant or deny the applicants’ requests. The decisions are ratified by the Commission at the conclusion of its meeting.
2. Subcommittees
2.1 All members are responsible to review submitted materials.
2.2. The presenter is responsible to provide a written presenter’s report to the applicant not less than 12 nor more than 24 hours prior to the scheduled meeting.
2.3 The subcommittee chair is responsible for time-keeping and providing an explanation of the process to the candidate at the beginning of the meeting.
2.4. The Commission receives and ratifies the actions of the regional certification committees. This ratification should be included in the minutes of the Commission.
3. The regional certification chair is responsible for completing the Regional Certification Report or Regional Certification Report Form (Appendix 5) and submitting it to the ACPE Program Manager or designee following regional certification committee actions and also the minutes of the regional certification meeting. The Program Manager or designee will post to the resource library for commissioners to access.
E. Avoiding bias and conflict of interest — During the development of the docket commissioners and are asked to review the list of commissioners and applicants and inform the chair if a conflict of interest exists, i.e., present supervisory relationship, therapeutic relationship, or other reasons that could lead to the potential for bias, or the appearance of bias or conflict of interest. The chair completes the docket based on information provided about potential bias or conflict of interest.
F. Enacting changes in the Commission policy and procedure manual
1. Policies and procedures may be changed with the approval of the Board and a date set for the implementation of any change.
2. The Commission will review annually the policy and procedure manual, approve any necessary changes, and submit the updated manual to the Board for approval. Changes are recorded in a separate section of the minutes of the Commission meeting.
3. If a substantive change in policy or procedure is needed, it is approved by the Commission and sent to the Board for review and action. If a policy or procedure is changed, it will be published in the ACPE News and on the ACPE website and communicated in writing to regional certification chairs, regional directors, and the ACPE Program Manager. The effective date of the change will be included in these communications.
G. Review/revisions of Standards and/or the Certification Manual
1. The Commission will work with the Standards Committee to review and propose any necessary changes in ACPE Standards and/or Certification Manual to the Board every five years or sooner if interim substantive changes are deemed necessary.
2. At each business meeting of the Commission the minutes shall reflect in a separate section any recommended changes to the current Manual to go into effect at the next revision of the Manual
H. Committee discussion of negative decisions
Members of a subcommittee or committee rendering a negative certification decision are prohibited from discussing the dynamics of the review process with the applicant or anyone outside the committee for 30 days from the date of the postmark on the committee action report, until the time for filing an appeal has passed.
I. Process for feedback to the Commission from candidates
When candidates are notified by letter/email after each national and regional committee of the action taken, the Program Manager sends a feedback form (Certification Manual Appendix 6 ) to ask about the experience of the process. These forms are posted by the Program Manager on the e-community resource library for access o the commissioners.
J. Process observers of Commission subcommittees or regional subcommittees.
Board members, members of accreditation and standards commissions, and other interested parties may request to observe a subcommittee meeting as non-participating and non-voting members. When practicable, this is noted in the docket published for the applicants.
K. Preparation and support of training supervisors
The Commission, along with regional certification chairs, is responsible for insuring support to training supervisors. This may include, but is not limited to, providing workshops at regional meetings, national conventions or Commission meetings, and providing a list of experienced training supervisors willing to serve as consultants to other training supervisors. The Commission will report annually to the Board activities carried out during the previous twelve months. The Commission chair or delegate is responsible for tracking these events and reporting the results.
L. Leave of Absence Policy:
1. Policy: A Supervisory Candidate or Associate Supervisor may request a leave of absence which shall be for one year from the date it is granted. If there is need to extend the leave, a letter requesting the additional one year extensions not to exceed a total of three years will be sent to the Regional Certification Chair. Only one LOA can be taken in a six year period of one’s certification process. A LOA may be granted for but is not limited to the following: personal, medical, parental (new baby), military, care of seriously ill (child, parent, and spouse), loss of center or supervisor.
2. Process:
2.1. A request will be submitted to the Chair of the Regional Certification Committee. The chair will review and authorize or deny the leave of absence. It will be documented and dated in a letter to the candidate and copied to the Chair of the Certification Commission, the Regional Director, and the ACPE Program Manager.
2.2. An extension is requested, the chair of the Regional Committee will authorize it or not and will document and date the approval of the extension with a letter to the candidate and copied to the Certification Chair, Regional Director and ACPE Program Manager.
3. Supervisory Activity during LOA — During the leave of absence, the candidate is out of the process totally for the duration of the leave. A Supervisory Candidate or Associate may not supervise students or access the certification process for papers, or consultation, etc.
4. Re-Entry: To re-enter into the Certification process, the Supervisory Candidate or Associate must be accepted into an accredited center and meet with the Regional Certification Committee for a consultation. The Regional Certification Chair, the chair of the subcommittee and Supervisory Candidate or Associate will determine material requirements for the consultation. The consultation date will be the date on which the original six year clock for the process of certification will resume. Supervisory Candidates on LOA whose papers have been accepted will not have to re-submit their papers for approval. Note: The recipient of a “Leave of Absence” is encouraged to stay in collegial relationships with supervisory colleagues and is free to initiate individual consultations as needed/wanted.
M. When a presenter’s report is found to have factual errors, the presenter must correct it and send a corrected copy to the candidate and to the ACPE Program Manager for inclusion in the file.
N. Supervisory Candidates may no longer use audio tapes for presentations at the Associate level; instead, the Supervisory Candidate must submit a video tape, a DVD or electronic submission of a group or individual session for their Associate review. The format may be negotiated with the presenter.
O. Material submitted for a review at the Certification Commission is due by “postmark” date instead of a “received by” date.
P. When a candidate is meeting the Certification Commission to request review for ACPE Supervisor, CPE Program Evaluation Forms (Certification Manual Appendix 4) should be included in the materials submitted, for all students supervised individually or in the group since the candidate was granted Associate status.
Q. In the event of extenuating circumstances (e.g., illness, injury, undue delays in approval of position papers), the Chairpersons of Regional Certification Committees may offer an administrative extension of certification status to Supervisory Candidates or Associates for a period between regional committees and/or national commission meetings but that this extension not exceed the next cycle of regional or national meetings.