Accreditation & Recognition
Some Perspectives
From the perspective of a current trainee or a graduate of clinical pastoral training, whether the program is accredited – that is, its training outcomes and administration validated by an accrediting agency, in accordance with the agency’s standards – is a significant issue. Participation in or graduation from an accredited program confers specific benefits on trainees and graduates [in the United States].
From the perspective of an individual training program, accreditation by an accrediting agency provides specific authorizations and access to federal programs not available to programs that are not thus accredited.
The Accreditation Manual (since 2019) has incorporated the Department’s requirements into CPSP practices.
- An organization itself makes the final decision on all accreditation matters. The Accreditation Commission makes the final decision on accreditation matters on behalf of CPSP.
- Accreditation requires both the thorough documentation of policies and procedures that ensure fair, unbiased, transparent decision making, and a documented record of consistent implementation of those procedures. The Accreditation Manual and the design of CPSP information systems fulfill these expectations.
- Both the Standards and Accreditation Manual incorporate the US Department of Education criteria in their design and usage, adapting their execution to CPSP’s chapter-based organization.
- The Accreditation Commission, representing CPSP, is charged with a timely response to a wide range of inputs/recommendations from the Accreditation Oversight Committee.
- In a minimal concession to bureaucracy, the Administrator documents, publishes, and reports Administration Commission decisions and completed actions to training programs, the membership and external customers, and the Secretary of Education.
The application process for recognition requires that CPSP demonstrate a substantial record of accreditation activity (in accordance with our published documents) in the years before entering the review process. Our diplomate supervisors’ engagement with accreditation is key to our success!