In October 2020, the Veteran’s Administration revised their requirements for spiritual care providers/chaplains going forward. This change required modifications to our existing certification structure so that our chaplains can apply for chaplain positions within the VA and the Department of Defense.
Effective, January 14, 2021, Board Certified Chaplains with ACCC will be required to a)provide evidence of four units of CPE from U.S. Department of Education accredited CPE providers. Currently, the only two accredited CPE providers are the Institute for Clinical Pastoral Training and ACPE.
In addition, BCC applicants will need to provide evidence of their endorsement from a DoD approved endorser as well as provide transcripts for Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree or higher from a U.S. Department of Education accredited institute for higher learning. There are additional essay requirements as well, designed for the candidate to write to the core competencies as established by BCCI. Dues for this new BCC certification will be $200 per calendar year and the application and testing fee is $520.
Because a large number of our applicants work in the private sector and do not have need of the ability to apply to the Veteran’s Administration for employment, we have created a new certification called a Board Endorsed Clinical Chaplain (BECC). This new certification is based on the requirements that have been the traditional Board Certified Chaplain certifications of ACCC’s past. Absolutely nothing has changed between this BECC certification and our former requirements for BCC. In addition, all individuals obtaining board certification prior to January 14, 2021 will retain their Board Certified Chaplain status with the understanding that this certification is not Department of Defense eligible. Those with this status before January 14, 2021 may opt to apply for the Department of Defense eligible BCC certification, provided they meet all requirements as put forth by the Department of Defense.
More information, including a description of our certifications can be found on our Certifications page found here.