Reflections from a KYCP Board Member
On Friday, December 2, 2005 the membership and Board of Directors for the Kentucky Youth Care Professionals gathered at EKU in Richmond to celebrate the first year of Kentucky youth worker certification and to announce the continuing initiative for 2006. There were representatives from many private childcare agencies and Representatives to the Executive Board for Certification. Also present and lending support to the continuing certification effort were officials from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Children’s Review Program and Children’s Alliance. There are now 204 certificate holders in Kentucky, almost half of which work at Buckhorn Children and Family Services. All certificate holders were certified under the “grand fathering” procedure, which ended December 31, 2004 and are due for recertification by the end of 2005. Process and procedure for re-certification or initial certification may be found on this site in the membership area.
There was significant time spent discussing the many previous efforts for Kentucky Certification, actually dating to 1991. Many of those representatives in the room had been involved from that time forward and were pleased that the most recent effort had resulted in the total number of certificate holders now exceeding 200.
Many have asked the question: why re-certify? I will attempt to answer the question from my view as a current member of this certification board and also as someone who has spent nearly fifteen years in Kentucky working with different certification bodies.
The advantages are three-fold: There is an advantage for the individual worker, for the employing agency and for the Profession.
For the Individual:
- Identification as a Certified Professional
- The sense of belonging to a profession
- The opportunity for mentoring, training and supervision
- Portability and marketability from job to job, place to place.
- The opportunity to support a Professional Network
For the Agency:
- The assurance of a minimum level of competence within the profession
- A consistent application of the “career ladder” concept for all employees
- An enhancement for review by accrediting and licensing bodies
- An organized structure to assist in the training, development and credentialing of direct care workers.
For the Profession:
- An ability to speak with “One Voice” for constituents (Individuals and Agencies)
- A consistency in training, education and experience for a diverse workforce.
- A recognition of existing workers as professionally qualified, as other professions
- The ability to share knowledge, skills and experience at various locations and levels.
In summary, I need to comment that this current “voluntary” certification framework has moved along very well as compared to a couple of others that I am familiar with. In each of those cases there were much smaller numbers of folks certified and applying for certification. In both cases the certification was eventually recognized by the state agencies as necessary for regulatory compliance and was written in to the Kentucky Administrative Regulations and, in some cases, The Kentucky Revised Statutes. This is not a part of any current plan, that I am aware of, but there is significant precedent for regulatory and accreditation bodies to use an existing voluntary certification process to expedite the regulatory mandating of minimum credentials.
To re-certify or to seek initial certification you may go to the web site, visit the membership area of the site, and download all of the necessary materials and information.
Michael D. Vance, MBA
Licensed Social Worker
Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor
Certified Prevention Professional
Certified Youth Care Professional IV