PSP Certification

FAQ

General Frequently Asked Questions About Certification

1. What is certification?

2. Why National Certification?

3. What training will be required?

4. In my state we use a different title than Parent Support Provider, will we have to change the name?

5. Will there be more than one type of certificate , will we have to change the name?

6. What is a Certified Parent Support Provider?

7. What is the definition of “parent support”?

8. What is the definition of “parent” for the person who applies for a parent support certificate?

9. How will I show that I am or was a “parent”?

10. If I am not a parent, can I apply for CPSP exam and certification?

11. When will the application be available?

 

General

1. What is certification?

Certification is the process through which an individual voluntarily submits his/her credentials for review based upon clearly identified competencies, criteria, or standards. The primary purpose of certification is to ensure that people employed in any state in this field, meet high standards of performance.

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2. Why National Certification?

• Some states offer certification for individuals providing family or parent support. National certification is necessary to provide portability throughout all the states. National certification:
• Ensures uniformity of core knowledge by practitioners;
• Endorses continuing professional development and credibility;
• Advances uniform standards and scope of practice;
• Promotes ethical practice;
• Endeavors to protect the consumer; and
• Provides recognition of specialty certification, such as wraparound, youth-in-transition to adulthood, cognitive disabilities.

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3. What training will be required?

Training is available at the local and state level. The National Federation does not intend to provide training at the state level. The National Federation will continue to host a national conference, institutes, webinars and specialized training. The Certification Commission will define the necessary content and the National Federation will approve training programs. It would be a conflict of interest for the Certification Commission to do training that is mandatory for certification since it sets and enforces the standard for training. The training program must prepare individuals to reach identified competencies. Currently the areas of training that are:

• Effective use of lived experience
• Listening skills
• Confidentiality and ethics (including the Code of Ethics)
• Effective assertive written and verbal communication
• Mentoring leadership in others
• Cultural diversity and the use of family-driven recovery oriented approach to mental health
• Current issues in children’s emotional, behavioral (including substance use) or mental health
• Parenting for resiliency and wellness
• Coaching for personal change and crises prevention
• Use of community resources
• Advocacy across and within systems (education, health, public benefits, behavioral health etc)
• Evaluation & achieving outcomes
• Networking

The training necessary is outlined in a 2012 Self-Assessment Training Checklist .  For certification, it is expected that applicants will have received at least 80 contact hours of training in covering the information in the following eleven domains of competence:

1. Advocacy in mulitple systems
2. Ethics
3. Behavioral Health Information
4. Communication
5. Confidentiality
6. Education Information
7. Effecting Change
8. Empowerment
9. Local Resources Information
10. Parenting for Resiliency
11. Wellness and Natural Support

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4. In my state we use a different title than Parent Support Providers, will we have to change the name?

Parent Support Providers is a title used for National Certification and is intended to be broad enough to encompass all state and local titles. Very few states actually use the name Parent Support Provider. We know that the work is done under many titles throughout the United States and internationally. Some examples are Parent Partner, Family Partner, Youth Partner, Family Support Partner, Peer Navigator, Parent Navigator, Family Navigator, Family Systems Navigator, Youth Navigator, Peer Advocate, Parent Advocate, Family Advocate, Youth Advocate, Peer Support Specialist, Parent Support Specialist, Family Support Specialist, Youth Support Specialist and Coach.

With National Certification, workers will still be able to use the local or state title. The certification will be for a Parent Support Provider. If you choose, the certificate will designate that the title is different in your state: “also known as xxxx xxxx in the State of XXXX” on the certificate.

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5. Will there be more than one type of certificate, will we have to change the name?

Yes, the first certificate will be the service of providing support for parents and caregivers who have children and youth who experience mental, emotional or behavioral health disorders. Others include, entry level certification, supervisor certification and sub-specialities, such as, wraparound or cognitive challenges. Other certificates in youth-to-youth and other peer-to-peer support are also being developed.

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6. What is a “Certified Parent Support Provider”?

Certified Parent Support Providers use their lived experience and specialized training to assist and empower families raising children and youth who experience emotional, developmental, behavioral, substance use, or mental health concerns. A Certified Parent Support Provider partners with child and family serving systems to improve family outcomes and strives to eliminate stigma and discrimination.

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7. What is the definition of “parent support”?

The focus of the service is on empowering parents and caregivers to parent and advocate for their child/youth who experience emotional, developmental, behavioral, substance use or mental health challenges

The scope of the service involves assisting and supporting family members to navigate through multiple agencies and human service systems (e.g. basic needs, health, behavioral health, education, social services, etc). It is strength-based and established on mutual learning from common lived experience and coaching that

• promotes wellness, trust and hope
• increases communication and informed decision making and self-determination
• identifies and develops advocacy skills,
• teach or coach parenting, self-care and wellness/recovery skills
• increases access to community resources and the use of formal and natural supports
• reduces the isolation that family members experience and the stigma of emotional, behavioral and mental health disorders

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8. What is the definition of “parent” for the person who applies for a parent support certificate?

Parent is a person who is responsible for promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and interlectual development of  a child experiencing emotional, developmental, behavioral, substance use, or mental  health challenges and can articulate the understanding of their experience with another parent or family member. This person may be a birth parent, adoptive parent, family member standing in for an absent parent or a person chosen by the family or youth to have the role of parent.

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9. How will I show that I am or was a parent?

The application form requests the information by asking you to answer three specific questions.

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10. If I am not a parent, can I apply for CPSP exam and certification?

For the purposes of CPSP certification, a parent is considered to be anyone who has raised or is raising a child with emotional, developmental, behavioral, substance use, or mental health concerns. Therefore, anyone who has been in the role of parenting children with these concerns may be qualified. We recognize that in many situations that may not be the biological parent, but may include long-term foster parents, adoptive parents, siblings and other extended family members who have stepped into the role of parenting, or even non-family members who have stepped into the role of parenting. The key to this criterion for eligibility is the ability to share that parenting experience with another parent in a way that is supportive, practical,  and helpful.

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11. When will the application be available?

In late spring 2012.

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CPSP Certification Exam

1. Who is eligible to apply?

The basic eligibility includes the lived experience of raising a child with emotional, developmental, behavioral, substance use or mental health challenges, training in the specified domains, and experience delivering peer-to-peer support to other similarly situated parents. Specific documentation requirements will be in the application package.

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2. How do I get the CPSP Application?

The application packet will be available in the spring 2012. You can download it from this website www.ffcmh.org, under “applications”,  receive it through the National Federation’s listserv, or contact the Certification office at certification@ffcmh.org

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 3. What is behind the $350 fee?

 The $350 fee includes a $50 non-refundable processing fee and $300  to cover testing and related ethics enforcement administrative expenses, including subcontracts to psychometricians, for essential tasks and built-in securities to ensure an on-going fair and valid exam. It covers 2 years of certification until such time each CPSP will need to re-certify. During that two years, your CSPS certification assures others that you are adhering to the national standard of practice.   Recertification will not require a test and will therefore be a lower fee. This cost is in keeping with other national certifications for similar kinds of work.

Thorough budget projections and comparisons to other similar national certifications to ensure fair market value were undertaken to arrive at this fee. The fee does not include development of the exam or the preceding research. The National Federation paid for development, including a few small seed grants from SAMHSA, the American Institutes for Research, OptumHealth and Magellan, to name a few.

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 4. Are there scholarships ?

Magellan Health Services had generously provided funding for 31 partial scholarships in 2011. The National Federation is seeking additional scholarships for 2012.

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 5. Is there a list of resources beyond what is on the National Federation website?

No. The Certification Commission does not recommend or endorse any specific training.  While the Certification Commission of the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health does not endorse any specific training program, coursework or publication, it has identified information that has relevance to the competency of Parent Support Providers. The following list is not intended to be comprehensive nor directly preparatory to the Certified Parent Support Provider exam. In alphabetical order, here are a few links to some published papers, articles and conference proceedings.

• Georgetown University National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health – research, information and conference proceedings http://gucchdtacenter.georgetown.edu/
• ICFMacro – Children’s Mental Health Initiative – information, publications, and evaluation data related to systems of care http://www.macrointernational.com/projects/cmhi/publications.aspx
• National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Development – information about child protection services, including Primer Hands On-Child Welfare in 10 modules http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/helpkids/agency_col_primer.htm
• National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health – information about family support and children’s mental health, publications and conference proceedings. http://www.ffcmh.org
• National Wraparound Initiative – information about wraparound for children and youth with serious behavioral health issues http://www.nwi.pdx.edu/#
• Research and Training Center on Children’s Mental Health – research and conference proceedings http://rtckids.fmhi.usf.edu/rtcconference/
• Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children’s Mental Health – research, publications, and conference proceedings http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/
• Technical Assistance Partnership on Child and Family Mental Health – information related to community systems of care and learning communities for communication, information sharing, problem solving, and collaboration http://www.tapartnership.org/

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