Prevention — CPS
Certified Prevention Specialists work upstream of addiction — community education, outreach, and programs that stop problems before they start.
The credential
CPS
Earned through prevention-specific education, supervised experience, and the IC&RC prevention exam. Built for people entering prevention work — no college degree required to begin.
Renewal
CPS recertification requirements live on the Recertification tab in the bar above.
CPS renewal →CPS requirements
CPS - Testing Requirements
150 Prevention Education Hours are required.
- All education hours must be accredited or approved by a recognized/approved accreditation body. Education hours must include the topical areas of:
- ATOD Pharmacology/Epidemiology
- ATOD Prevention Education Curriculum trainings or Training of Trainers (TOT)
- Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist Training (SAPST)
- Community Mobilization / Coalition Building / Systems Thinking/Planning
- General prevention topics
- Cultural Competence/ Humility
- Facilitation/presentation skills training
- Prevention ethics including confidentiality
- 2,000 Supervised Experience Hours in the Prevention Domains TM (c. ICRC/AODA)
- 120 Hours of Experiential Learning and Evaluation by a Prevention Supervisor (or CPS Consulting Supervisor/Mentor)
- Ethics Agreement (signed and dated)
- National Criminal History Check
- ICRC Prevention Specialist Certification Exam
- Passing score on the CPS professional psychometric national certification examination from the International Certification Reciprocity Consortium
- Recommended study materials: Candidate Study Guide (English) and Guía de Estudio para Candidatos (Español)
CPS Recertification
Recertification occurs every two years. Certified CPSs must submit 40 hours of continuing education every two years, which must include 6 hours of Ethics Training and update their certification file with any changes (address, phone, email, etc.).
Ready to start?
Begin your CPS application in Certemy.