The Upper Midwest Indian Council on Addictive Disorders Alcohol & Drug Counselor I (ADC I) is an entry-level credential. This credential demonstrates knowledge that is minimally required to work as a counselor with American Indian people in an SUD settings.
Traditionally, our credentials have been rooted in experiential experience. That is, you do not have to have a college degree but, instead, you are working in the field in a paid internship capacity with a chemical health agency that is 51% or more serving American Indian or on a federal reservation. You learn your skills this way instead of in a traditional classroom setting. Although, classroom settings are still valued and we encourage our candidates to take college courses or to even attain degrees in their respective fields.
For education & training, in addition to taking CEUs/CEs, we also take college courses on an individual basis in a relevant field (i.e. Psychology, Chemical Health, Public Health, Sociology, Social Work, etc.) at a 1:16 ratio to regular contact hours. For example, if you took and passed a 3 credit Counseling course, that would translate to 48 UMICAD education hours. (3 credit hours x 16 UMICAD hours = 48)
Below you will find a brief overview of the requirements for the ADC I.
Requirements:
300 hours of supervised, clinical experience at a chemical health and/or SUD counseling organization that is 51% American Indian-serving or it must be on a federal reservation.
1 supervisor reference. Your supervisor must have the credentials ADC II or ADC III or be licensed with the state with an LADC or LCSW (and they must work at a treatment/counseling organization with you currently or within the last 5 years).
1 core function form. The above supervisor must also fill out a core function form (linked at the bottom of the page). This provides proof that you worked at least 300 hours under their supervision within the 12 core functions of counseling.
Three peer references (below)
Passing score on the ADC I exam (70% or higher)
150 hours of education and training (trainings cannot be over 5 years old from the time you submit your application. When you are renewing a current certification, the hours must come from within your 2 year renewal period)
Some things to note:
**VERY IMPORTANT**--> You cannot use Peer Recovery/Peer Recovery Support trainings for education hours for Alcohol & Drug Counselor certifications. Peer Recovery trainings are explicitly for becoming Certified as a Peer Recovery Support Specialist. They are in different domains.
You can register with me or on Certemy--our online certification monitoring platform. If you have not yet done so, navigate to www.umicad.com/certemy and scroll down to "new credential-seeking professional" and click ADC I. Create an account. If you already have an account (that I may have created for you), you can do a password reset to gain access using your email.
Your references should not give their forms back to you. If you are doing a paper application professionals filling out the references forms for you must either turn them in directly to UMICAD by fax, email or post, OR your peer references can turn theirs into your supervisor. You can then turn the rest of your application materials into your supervisor who will couple all your references with your application and turn it into UMICAD. If you are submitting references on Certemy, this does not apply as references are prompted via email to fill out their forms.
The ADC I test is $150 and the application fee is $150. It is $300 to get certified the first time. Once certified, every two years you must renew your certification with 40 hours of continuing education and training. That 40 hours must include 6 hours of mandatory ethics.
For both the education/training hours on application (150 hours) and renewals (40 hours), we take CEUs, contact hours and even individual credit hours from college courses even if you do not have a degree. If you have a degree in a relevant field, those credit hours stand in perpetuity. If you do not have a degree, they only stand for 5 years. 1 credit hour in a human services field is 16 UMICAD hours. We will take American Indian culture and/or language classes at a 1/4 ratio of the total credits we are taking.
First-time certification: $300 (includes processing fee, exam fee, and 2 years of certification)
2 year renewal fee: $150
References:
1. https://www.mcboard.org/peer-recovery/
Some things to note: The credentials eligible to enroll to provide substance use disorder services are: Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC); or Upper Midwest Indian Counsel on Addictive Disorders (UMICAD) Level III certification (Submit certification. Individuals enrolling with MHCP with the UMICAD Counselor Level III credential may only provide services to individuals identifying as Native American.); or
One of the following:
Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker
Marriage and Family Therapist
Physician
Occupational Therapist
Psychologist
Licensed Professional Clinic Counselor
Nurse Practitioner
Clinical Nurse Specialist
Physician Assistant
A chemical dependency program is licensed under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 245G and must follow these guidelines to be eligible for supervision hours to be approved and supervisor must have at least one of the above credentials.