The course can be obtained through CCAPP and powered by ZipMart. Click here for the course.

The completion certificate must be uploaded to your Certemy application. 

If your application is complete, meaning all bubbles are green in Certemy, CCAPP Credentialing staff will review it within 30 days. If anything is incorrect, it will be rejected and you will need to make corrections. Incorrect steps in your application will delay the processing time. 

Anyone who is applying for registration (RADT).

Anyone who was previously registered with CCAPP and allowed their RADT to expire past their 30-day grace period.

*Please note that this course is not for applicants that are applying for certification and cannot be used as CEUs for certification renewal.

The 9-hour pre-registration course can be taken through another certifying organization; however, the course must be specific in that it must consist of three hours each in ethics, professional boundaries, and confidentiality. In order for CCAPP to accept your 9-hour orientation certificate, the course must be listed on the CO’s website or approved by the CCAPP office.

The fee is broken down as followed:

– $50 for the 9-hour course.

-$50 for the RADT application.

– If you are currently registered with CCAPP and you let your registration expire past your grace period, you will need to pay $50 for the course retake, $30 for renewal plus a $29 late fee for registration.

The purpose of this course is to prepare individuals that are currently seeking employment in the AOD industry and an educational introduction to the profession. It also serves as the first step to becoming registered.

No. This course is not transferable and does not count towards the state requirement of 155 educational hours or CCAPP’s 355 required hours, however, it is a great introduction to the SUD field and is required by all certification boards (CCAPP, CAADE, & CADTP).

You may choose to go to any school that you would like to attend. CCAPP does have a list of the Approved Schools on our webpage, under the Education tab on the home page. You are not required to attend these schools specifically, and CCAPP cannot recommend one school over another. If you would like additional information on these schools, please contact the school that you are interested in attending and speak to a career counselor.

For the required education, please see our Education tab and click on Academic Content Areas. This outlines the required education that you must complete before applying for certification. 

To complete the online application, you will first need to start at the page where the credential you are seeking is listed. The instructions are listed on each credentials landing page. See the SUD Career Ladder for the listing of credentials.

You will need to have the following information prior to being able to complete your portfolio. Please use our contact form with any questions that you have about the information below.

1. Official Transcripts – Must be emailed to CCAPP from a representative of the school, and cannot come from the student directly. Transcripts can be mailed to the CCAPP Sacramento office in a sealed unopened envelope from the school If your school does not participate in transcript emailing.

CCAPP Credentialing
PO Box 214127
Sacramento, CA 95821

2. Official Transcripts from non-CCAPP approved schools – If you choose to go to a non-CCAPP approved school, you must submit copies of the course descriptions from the school catalog.

3. Internship Evaluation – You will need your supervisor’s email address and you will need to assign your Field Practicum Supervisor for this step in your Certemy application. They will then create a supervisor account from an email link that they receive via email, and they will log in and sign the Practicum Log and Internship Evaluation.

4. Practicum Log – you will need your instructor’s email address to complete the Practicum Log in your Certemy application. To access this information your Instructor will receive an email once you have entered their information; your supervisor has completed and submitted your internship evaluation and practicum logs. This email will not be sent until this step has been completed.

5. Employment Verification Letter – If you are applying for a higher credential, you will need to obtain a letter from your current employer stating that you are currently employed there. This letter must be on company letter head, and signed and dated within 60 days of submission to the office.

6. Verification of Supervised Counseling Experience – if you are applying for a CADC I/CADC II/CADC III, your supervisor will need to complete the online verification form in Certemy. You will need to assign them as your supervisor in that step of your applicaiton in Certemy.

7. One Peer Recommendation Letter – You will need one email address of a colleague that you currently work with in the AOD profession that is willing to write a recommendation letter for you. This letter cannot be from a supervisor, or from an instructor. 

8. Photo – You will need to scan a copy of a passport photo to be included with your portfolio.

9. Required Fees – Total for a member is $339, this includes the exam. Membership is separate from a registry status. To find out if you are a current member in good standing, please search for you neame in the registry listing and look for i_m, which stands for Individual Member. If you are not a member, and would like to apply for membership, please complete the online membership application that you can access here. If you do not want to take out membership, the fees are $648.

Beginning January 1, 2017, degrees will no longer be accepted to reduce hours. Each credential in the career ladder has its own education and experience requirements. See the credentials you are interested in for details on the career ladder.

CCAPP Credentialing does not offer a testing in option for counselors. All individuals will need to meet the current requirements for certification. 

CCAPP Credentialing does not have any waivers for the required information.

If you are unable to locate your supervisor or practicum instructor, all individuals will be required to conduct a thorough search for your supervisor. The office will conduct its search for your supervisor. Most of whom can be located through a Google search. If you are still unable to locate the individual(s) use the contact form for further assistance.

The person that can verify your hours, must be certified with CCAPP as a CADC I, CADC II, CADC III, CCS, or LAADC/LAADC-S, or meet the definition of an appropriate supervisor. The applications clarify this information further on the hours verification form of who can supervise whom for the credential in which applicants are applying. We do not accept letters from HR as verification of hours. This step in Certemy will not be complete until this information has been received correctly in Certemy. 

Grandparenting is when an organization allows applicants to receive a credential when they have not met all of the requirements normally required for approval (most often a testing requirement is waived). CCAPP is not offering any grandparenting opportunities.

CCAPP no longer sends out renewal invoices. All applications are now electronic using Certemy. If you are due for renewal login to Certemy or visit the career ladder and click on your credential level.

Applicants for renewal will need 40 Continuing education units by a CCAPP approved provider in alcohol and drug counseling to include six hours specific to counselor ethics, and 10 Professional Development hours that can be completed anywhere and are trainings that the applicant has attended that enhance professionalism. Online CEs must not exceed 8 hours in a single day.

CEs are obtained by an approved CCAPP Provider. For the current list of approved providers, click here. You will need 40 hours in SUD education, including 6 hours specifically in counselor ethics, and the other 10 can come from anywhere and are considered Professional Development Hours (PDH). The PDH training must in some way, assist you professionally, such as additional school education that was not previously used to meet education requirements. PDHs can include CEs that exceed the 40-hour requirement or obtained from a non-approved provider. To submit school educational hours for PDH, you will need to submit an unofficial copy of your transcript showing successful completion of the course within the last 2 years for a maximum PDH credit of 10 hours. You can take all of the training hours as approved CE hours, but you cannot take all PDH trainings to meet the requirements for certification.

Yes, you will need to scan and upload these to the online renewal application.

No. However, there are significant discounts for certification, testing, and conferences, as well as many individual benefits for becoming a member. You may apply for membership by visiting www.ccappmembership.org

Certificates will be sent out in no specific order as they can be processed. Please be sure you enter your current contact information in your application. Credentials CANNOT be processed without this information. Counselors and registrants must continue to keep credentials current to stay in compliance with DHCS regulations.

If you need to verify your new credential before receiving the paper certificate, please check your digital wallet in Certemy. You may also view the registry listing by searching your name on CCAPP’s Verify a Credential page. 

Applicants who are not previously certified must pass the test required for the level being applied for. Applicants applying for a transfer must complete the transfer application on our home page, and click on the tile for transfer to CCAPP and  at that time, will be notified of testing options given the information provided in the application.  

There are three certifying organizations with authority to certify counselors for the purpose of working in a facility licensed or certified by the Department of Health Care Services. Counselors may choose, at any time, to transfer certification to another organization. Be aware that phrases such as “transitioning to” or promises of certification at a future date are not valid for documenting certified status with the Department of Health Care Services. You must have written documentation attesting to your CURRENT, not future status, to comply with regulations. All CCAPP credentials are valid in the state of California. All transfers accepted by CCAPP are provided with documentation to meet state regulations within 30 days of receipt of the application. 

Transfer applications are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Every effort is made to award the applicant the highest level of certification given current education, supervised work experience, and testing levels. Visit www.ccapptransfer.com for details. 

No. CCAPP is no longer able to accept certification transfers from individuals who were certified by a certification organization that is no longer approved by DHCS. All applicants are required to apply, take, and pass the IC&RC examination for the credential that they wish to apply for. To view the department’s bulletin regarding any regulatory or compliance updates click here. This link takes you to the official website of the state regulatory authority for California and should not be ignored.