ADP Alcohol and Drug Counseling Certification/Licensure Proposal: CAADAC Analysis

Letter sent to ADP Director Zito:

On behalf of the California Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (CAADAC) and the clients we treat, I would like to convey our strongest support of your department’s efforts to raise standards for our profession and safeguard persons in treatment. Our Legislative Committee spent considerable time analyzing the proposal and comparing it to numerous other state laws. Overall, we view the proposal as positive and as having consumer protection at its core.

We are encouraged by the proposal’s intent and are resolved to assist the department and legislature throughout its developmental stages. There are some critical issues CAADAC would like to provide input on and some minor, technical matters we would like to see addressed at some point as well. These points are outlined by a more detailed analysis which can be found  at www.caadac.org/media/adp_leg_proposal-final-draft_caadac02162007.pdf.  Following are our general comments regarding the major provisions of the proposed legislation.

In general, CAADAC believes that one of the most important improvements to the bill would be the establishment of a board to oversee its provisions. An appointed board, made up of licensed/certified professionals and consumers, would effectively carry out many of the items deferred to the “department.”  Such processes are common practice in other professions throughout California and the nation.

CAADAC views the initial language concerning the provisional status and “grand-parenting” as indications that the proposal will have a means of including persons currently working in the field as certified or licensed professionals under the new law. These concepts are important and not well-defined by the first public draft of the proposal.  CAADAC understands that this issue will need considerable negotiation to assure California’s workforce is included in the proposal. It is also pertinent to include “portability” of such credentials to ensure certified and licensed individuals have reciprocity in other states or countries. We have great conviction that the current workforce must be sustained and built upon through this legislation by way of grand-parenting and the terms explicitly defined within.

CAADAC recognizes the need for consumer protection in the field, but would highly recommend that the department carefully consider the impact of narrowly constructed background limitations on the current workforce. A survey process to determine the potential impact background checks will have on the current workforce may be necessary to establish parameters for this component of the legislation.

ADP’s recently released legislative proposal for licensing and certification is an important step in right direction. CAADAC would like to offer any resources it has to assist in its success.  We appreciate the opportunity of participating in this process.

To read the ADP proposal go to: http://www.adp.ca.gov/legislation/pdf/Counselor_Language_011209.pdf

Respectfully,

Rhonda Messamore, Executive Director

On behalf of CAADAC Legislative Committee