Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators
(ACRE )Employment Training and Education Certification
Position Paper
3/4/04

The Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators (ACRE) developed this position paper as the philosophical and historical basis for certifying competency-based training designed for staff working in community rehabilitation programs. This certification process will impact staff and consumers of over 8,500 community rehabilitation programs served by ACRE member organizations across the nation. Through ACRE 's Employment Training and Education Certification process, thousands of employment support personnel will receive education and training of the highest standards resulting in quality services and outcomes for persons with disabilities.

Rationale and Historical Perspective

Community-based employment services have increased opportunities for people with disabilities (consumers) to be more fully integrated into society. Job placement was once limited to those consumers who were able to independently succeed in already-existing community jobs, while individuals with more significant or multiple disabilities or high support needs were relegated to sheltered employment and activity centers. Current values and legislation emphasize consumer choice: "The individual receiving supports is the central driving force in the development of options and decisions," and access to employment in the community "Employment should be an option for any person interested in working, regardless of label, support need, or perceived functioning level." In the words of the Rehabilitation Act , "an individual who has a disability or is blind.shall be presumed to be eligible for vocational rehabilitation services under this title.unless the designated State unit involved can demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that such individual is incapable of benefiting in terms of an employment outcome." Given these high expectations, it is essential that community-based services are provided by well-qualified employment personnel. However, there currently exists no nationally recognized set of standards or certification procedure for community-based employment personnel.

The Comprehensive System of Personnel Development required in the Rehabilitation Act regulations (Rehabilitation Act of 1998, as amended) requires state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies to establish standards to ensure that rehabilitation personnel are adequately prepared and trained. These standards must be "consistent with any national or State approved or recognized certification, licensing, registration, or other comparable requirements that apply to the area in which such personnel are providing vocational rehabilitation services." However, this requirement applies only to state VR agency staff, not those community-based organizations that frequently contract to provide services to VR participants with the most significant disabilities.

The professional educators that comprise the Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators, (e.g., CRP-RCEPs, CRP Research and Training Centers , CRP Capacity Building Projects) have long recognized the need for and advocated for competent, qualified employment personnel, especially at the direct service level. In the absence of existing national standards for the education and training of personnel of community rehabilitation programs, ACRE has taken the lead in implementing the country's first nationally recognized employment training and education certification process.

Competency-Based Approach

ACRE members have developed competency-based training curricula to prepare rehabilitation personnel for delivering effective employment services to people with significant disabilities. Beginning in 2001, ACRE entered into a dialogue with the Association for Persons in Supported Employment (APSE, a national organization that advocates for community-based employment for persons with disabilities), to develop a system of competencies that would be applicable nationally in a wide variety of employment programs. The competencies were revised and adapted to reflect not only critical areas related to supported employment, but also to those related to competitive and customized employment.

All training curricula offered by ACRE members will identify the competencies addressed in each training session or series of sessions. Participants in these training programs will accumulate a specified number of training hours on targeted topics and earn "Certificates of Achievement" at beginning, intermediate, and advanced knowledge and skill levels. Though not all training is necessarily linked to academic or degree programs, these certificates will reflect successful completion of the required training and in some cases, may be applied to academic programs.

Setting the Standards for Education and Training Programs

ACRE member organizations will submit their training curricula and instructor qualifications to the ACRE Curriculum Review Board. The Curriculum Review Board will review the curricula with regard to the national competencies to ensure that they meet the national standards of content and hours. If they meet these standards, the curriculum will be certified as an ACRE-Approved Training Program. If they fail to meet any of the criteria, ACRE will provide feedback to the trainer or organization and they will have the opportunity to revise and resubmit it for approval.

Persons completing ACRE-approved training programs will receive documentation reflecting the competency areas and number of completed hours of training. Once the individual has completed the specified amount and scope of training, he/she will be eligible for a Certificate of Achievement, provided in three categories: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced as related to the sets of knowledge and skills. Each region will track training and certification participants and report the information and demographics to ACRE 's national database. Because ACRE will be distributing this certification across the nation, Certificates of Achievement will be portable from organization to organization, city to city, and state to state.

Future

It is the position of ACRE that, to the greatest extent possible, all employment services contracted for and purchased by the state-federal rehabilitation system should be delivered by individuals who have received training that addresses the national competencies. Some states have already mandated this requirement. This is a first step in ensuring that employment services are delivered by qualified personnel, in turn maximizing the employment opportunities of people with disabilities.

Copyright 2006