The Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) is a national certifying organization for professional rehabilitation couselors. Based in Schaumburg, IL, CRCC is an independent, not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to establish, maintain, and monitor a national certification program for Certified Rehabilitation Counselors (CRCs), including maintaining a register of all CRCs and providing certification status for the public. CRCC also maintains and updates a Code of Professional Ethics for Rehabilitation Counselors under which all CRCs must practice. The CRC Certification Program is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), the accrediting organization of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE).
Contents
- History
- Certifications
- Certified Rehabilitation Counselor CRC
- Additional certifications
- CRC professional job skills and work settings
- References
CRCC has over 17,000 Certified Rehabilitation Counselors. While the majority of CRCs practice in the United States, CRCs also practice in other countries worldwide, including those who practice in Canada as Canadian Certified Rehabilitation Counselors (CCRCs).
History
CRCC was created by the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association (ARCA) and the National Rehabilitation Counseling Association (NRCA) to enhance the quality of services for people with disabilities by establishing standards for the rehabilitation counseling profession. ARCA and NRCA created the Joint Committee on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification, chartered as a nonprofit organization in 1973, which was renamed the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) in 1974.
CRCC continues to work with ARCA and NRCA, among others, to further the profession of rehabilitation counseling. In addition, the organizations also pursue different goals: ARCA and NRCA concentrate on membership association activities such as conferences, professional development, and publications, while CRCC concentrates on promoting quality rehabilitation counseling services for individuals with disabilities through certification.
Certifications
Individuals who pass the voluntary certification examination (the CRC Exam), become qualified as Certified Rehabilitation Counselors. To maintain the CRC designation, CRCs are required to stay current by renewing their certification every 5 years, either through re-examination or by meeting specific ongoing educational requirements.
Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC)
The requirements include the following:
- Rehabilitation Counseling,
- Counseling, or a
- Qualifying counseling-related major plus a post-graduate advanced certificate or degree with specific coursework.
- acceptable internship under CRC supervision, and/or
- acceptable employment under CRC supervision.
The CRC is a voluntary certification and is not required for supervised or independent practice, although it may be a hiring requirement of certain employers. It identifies rehabilitation counselors who have voluntarily sought and met established standards. It is not a substitute for state-mandated licensure. Many states use the CRC Exam as part of their licensing requirements, which may provide license portability for rehabilitation counselors who wish to practice in more than one state.
Additional certifications
CRCC also maintains additional certifications:
While there are several hundred counselors holding these credentials, they are no longer offered to new applicants.
CRC professional job skills and work settings
CRCs and rehabilitation counselors are the only professional counselors educated and trained specifically to serve individuals with disabilities. They assist individuals with physical, mental, developmental, cognitive, and emotional disabilities to achieve their personal, career, and independent living goals by engaging in a complete counseling process.
CRCs may specialize within many areas of rehabilitation counseling including:
CRCs are employed in a variety of work settings including: