WashingtonState Consortium of Addiction Studies Educators

Bar 14 Ranch House Restaurant, Ellensburg, WA

April 18, 2008

Participants – Irene Bittrick (EWU), Jenna Redhawk (EWU), Hayley Lake (EWU), Lisa Romwall (Olympic College), Paul Weatherly (BCC), Deb Cummins (DASA), Lynn McIntosh (UW ADAI/NFATTC), Denise Arnold (Pierce College), Julia Joyce (Argosy U), Mike Towey (TCC), Dave Harris (CDPWS), Paul Ancona (EdCC), Tui Lindsey (EdCC), Judy Deiro (WWU)

I. Welcome, Brief Introductions (Name & Affiliation)

II. WACASE Business(Irene Bittrick)

  1. Approve minutes from 10/12/07 meeting

Decision: Minutes approved.

B. Treasurer Report. Financial report distributed; the current balance is $221.90. WACASE owes its Treasurer, Ben Camp, 175.00 for a loan. DASA approved an advancement toward the NAADAC work, which will cover a previously submitted invoice. The Treasurer will add in membership dues, and submit bills to members whose fees are due.

C. Membership update/drive. Paul Weatherly volunteered to be Chair of the Membership Committee, beginning June 13. This was unanimously approved by vote. Paul sees benefit in recruiting members through face-to-face meetings at colleges, but there isn’t funding for travel costs now so the need for this will be revisited later. Irene recommended a discussion of membership fees at a later date (see Section VIII; a motion was passed later in the day, after Irene and others from EWU had left); the suggested fee was $400 every two years, but subject to change. Denise Arnold suggested sending an email to prospective members soon, and recommended using Perkins funds. A membership list should be available for review at meetings; Lynn McIntosh will send a database of educators to WACASE officers; a column could be added to the database for tracking paid members.

  1. Open positions for WACASE officers and committee chairs. The Vice President position is open. Irene nominated Mike Towey, Denise Arnold seconded the motion, and it was approved by unanimous vote.

E. Non-Profit Status. WACASE has been granted 501(c)(3) status. We need to discuss at the next meeting what entity should receive funds if WACASE disbands, a 501(c)(3) requirement. The Board is exploring what grants could be applied for under this status.

F. By-Laws Changes. A suggestion was made to form a committee to review and amend the current by-laws. It was decided that the Board (WACASE officers) would handle this via conference call, but invite others to participate. Paul Ancona is interested in participating after the school year ends. The group will send a draft of the amended by-laws to the listserv for membership input prior to adoption.

III.Review of WACASE By-Laws(Irene Bittrick)

See II.F (above).

IV. WACASE NAADAC Certification Taskforce Report
(Irene Bittrick/Mike Towey)

  • Costs/Description: The cost for WACASE to become NAADAC accredited is $400. In the scenario being considered, WACASE would be the umbrella for other schools. NAADAC certification would cost $400 per school for two years, payable to WACASE, of which half the fee would go to NAADAC. The remaining $200 pays for the schools WACASE 1 year membership and administrative costs for file management. NAADAC will require schools to go through WACASE to obtain NAADAC certification in the future.
  • Funding: DASA has agreed to provide seed costs to cover the first three years of this process (e.g., hire staff to create the crosswalk/matrix, billing procedures, and a recordkeeping system). DASA is providing an initial $4,000 to help cover the application costs for WACASE NAADAC accreditation, which will allow DASA to contract with WACASE. Additionally, WACASE is requesting a three-year grant from DASA, this amount would decrease annually as the program becomes sustainable. WACASE membership fees may be folded into the cost for NAADAC certification until it is determined what the cost to administer program will be (see VIII. below for a decision made about this). To provide funding, DASA would like to see sixty percent of schools committed to the process; to date, seven schools have committed, including Bellevue, Eastern Washington University, Olympic, Skagit Valley, Tacoma, South Seattle, and Wenatchee Valley; Bellevue and Tacoma had previously became NAADAC-certified on their own. A WACASE member requested a copy of the proposal and budget for the DASA contract with WACASE.
  • Matrix/Crosswalk: There was a discussion of the matrix and crosswalk being developed a part of this process. The crosswalk will show how colleges relate to each other in terms of curricula, and the matrix shows where the competencies are embedded in class curricula.
  • Benefits/Related Issues: NAADAC is enthusiastic about this process in that it could prove to be a model program for other states. A major benefit foreseen, or hoped for, from the process is that the schools will each administer NAADAC testing. One person mentioned that the two main reasons people don’t pass the test in this state are the current length of time from people completing their education to taking the test, and cultural issues. Another asked if the exam would be used as a stipulation for graduation, but the answer is not yet known; Bellevue is already NAADAC-certified and does make passing the test a requirement to graduate. The current practice is that students take the test much later, after they’ve completed required fieldwork. DOH supports administration of the test by colleges, and NAADAC, which heretofore allowed only four-year colleges to administer the test, has approved (verbally at this point) that community colleges be allowed to administer the test to those who have completed a degree (e.g. and AA or AAS). There was a question regarding who would absorb the cost of administering the test, and someone said it would be students. The test might be administered by paper or computer. Also, schools could market themselves as being NAADAC-certified, and any CE training they offered would automatically be approved for NAADAC CE credits.
  • Issues of Concern: There was some concern that the certification process would be labor intensive at the college level and, while all the details aren’t worked out, Paul Weatherly reported that his individual application process for Bellevue CC to become NAADAC certified took a total of about 15 hours total of his time, and the re-certification process was much shorter (e.g., answering questions about changed or added courses). The plan is for EasternWashingtonUniversity to maintain records and handle college applications, though NAADAC would grant approval. In addition, there was some discussion and concern about a mandate that by summer 2008 colleges be required to have common course numbers and titles, but consensus was that this is not a mandate that applies to technical programs and/or this group.
  • DOH Issues: DOH has verbally supported the process, and a letter of support is expected. CDP certification is the only healthcare profession for which DOH has to actually review transcripts, vastly slowing down the application process. Most other healthcare professions have a nationally standardized curriculum and a national association responsible for monitoring course content and completion. Paul Weatherly reported that once WACASE is NAADAC certified, DOH will need to be notified and the RCW’s changed. Paul Weatherly will look into this if certification occurs prior to June 13, at which time he will relinquish his post as Committee Chair on the DOH committee addressing chemical dependency certification. Paul was unsure if DOH could delegate this piece of certification review (educational requirements) to colleges. This should be on the agenda for the next DOH CE Certification committee meeting, scheduled for June 13th. Mike Towey said he would plan to go.
  • AAP/WASIOP/JRA Support: Provider associations (including AAP and WASIOP), and JRA, are also expected to provide letters of support, though the provider groups have expressed some concern about the sustainability of the process, and the lack of a track record by WACASE in managing such a process.
  • Decision: Mike Towey motioned to proceed with NAADAC certification for WACASE, seconded by Denise Arnold, opened for discussion, then unanimously approved. The length of time from WACASE applying for NAADAC approval is estimated to be 30 days; WACASE will submit the application soon.
  • A request was made that colleges that have not already done so please send course descriptions and syllabi to Jenna at to facilitate matrix and crosswalk development. If you already have something showing where competencies are embedded in your curricula, please send that to Jenna, too.
  • Eastern Washington will send an example of a matrix to the WACASE listserv.

V. Break/Lunch

VI. Supervision WAC CDPT Workgroup Report (Judy Deiro)

  • Recommendations made by WACASE, in the form of a letter, were delivered to this workgroup in time for consideration prior to WAC changes that are expected to be finalized in June. Mike Towey and Mike Wagner planned to follow up.
  • Draft WAC changes are in their second form. Some providers have expressed a preference for not regulating clinical supervision, but rather going after the “bad actors” (possibly considering suspensions) who are not providing supervision or following current rules.
  • There is a meeting to address WAC changes scheduled for May 14

VII. DOH CD Certification Advisory Board Meeting

  • New rules are being proposed (to be decided in June) that would disallow CDPTs to deliver services they are not qualified or educated to deliver.
  • The group discussed some of the proposals on the table. For example, the Registered Counselor credential will be phased out by 2010, and 2009 renewals will be made in a new provider category. A CDPT, which would be a new category, would only be limited to renewing four times, and would need to show they are actively pursuing coursework required to be a CDP (to be reviewed as part of CDPT renewal process).

VIII. Department of Labor Resources Discussion
(Lynn McIntosh, Robin Roberts)

  • Time ran out and Robin Roberts had been unexpectedly unable to attend, so the discussion was postponed to a later meeting.

IX. Other Business/Wrap-up/Next Meeting Location/Date/Time

  • Lynn McIntosh asked for input on topics and dates for a Regional Educators Conference, a faculty development event that NFATTC plans to stage in fall of 2008. The group agreed that the latter half of October works best with educators’ fall scheduled; September to mid-October is simply too early in the class year. Also, some dates to avoid are October 9-10 (NFATTC Advisory Board meeting) and October 16-18 (DASA Prevention Summit). Two WACASE members (Judy Deiro and Tui Lindsay) volunteered to be on a Planning Committee for the conference. The group liked the idea of some previously suggested topics, including time to collaborate around curricula development, discussion/information about competency-based courses, and discussion of distance-education opportunities.
  • Dave Harris, of CDPWS, provided several announcements with handouts. These included announcements/handouts on 2008 legislative updates and upcoming trainings. Dave will send links for some of the information to the WACASE Secretary for inclusion in notes, or to the WACASE listserv.
  • WACASE would like meeting announcements, minutes, and other business posted on a website, but needs to decide what website is preferred. Both NFATTC and NAADAC were discussed as possibilities; NFATTC has a specific area earmarked for statewide educator groups.
  • Mike Towey brought a motion to adopt an interim annual combined NAADAC/WACASE membership fee of $400 for a two-year membership, with the fee is to be reevaluated by or before December 2008. The motion passed.
  • A second motion was made that Paul Weatherly, for his work at BCC and as chair of the DOH CDP Certification Committee, be nominated for NAADAC’s new honorary award, entitled Educator of the Year. The motion passed.
  • The next WACASE meeting isJune 25, 11:30 to 2pm, in Yakima,during the DASA Treatment Institute (June 25-27). At theJune meeting the next meeting will be scheduled for September on the west side, with a likely location of either Tacoma or HighlineCommunity College.
  • If anyone is interested in conducting a session at the DASA Treatment Institute, contact Robin Roberts. There may still be a couple session slots open. Someone suggested that WACASE present about the NAADAC-certification process.

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