CODA receives two of the highest certifications in Canada!
The Council on Drug Abuse announced today that their online education program for youth engagement professionals has attained two of the highest certifications available in Canada. The Canadian Addiction Counsellors Certification Federation (CACCF) has awarded the CODA Certified Education (CCE) program with the approval of providing training towards the ICPS (International Certified Prevention Specialist) certification designation and the ICADC (International Certified Alcohol and Drug Counsellor) certification designation. With these two certifications CODA is able to provide more hours of training to professionals in need.
Health professionals are required to complete a specific number of hours in training if they wish to obtain the two certifications mentioned above. CODA’s training package now fulfills the requirement for all 106 hours of training areas required for the ICPS certification designation and 55 hours of the 270 hours required for the ICADC certification designation.
Lesley Whyte, CODA Executive Director, said that “the CCE program has been hailed as ‘best in class’ by addiction experts and other professionals who work in health promotion and youth engagement across Canada. Certification by the CACCF brings yet another indicator of program excellence to the forefront and is a major accomplishment for CODA as we expand our services and programs nationally.”
Barbara Robinson, CACCF Curricula Committee Review Chair Person, announced that "[they] are excited to not only have such a high quality training program meet some of [their] requirements for the ICADC but that [CODA] [is] the first prevention program in Canada to receive approval for all of the education hours required for the Internationally Certified Prevention Specialist Certification as well."
CODA is looking into new areas where professionals can receive even more training and hours to put towards their certifications. Additional modules in the area of Ethics, Signs and Symptoms and Human Development are being considered.
About CODA
The Council on Drug Abuse (CODA) is a Canadian charity incorporated in 1969 whose mission is to prevent substance abuse through education impacting children and youth.
Working primarily with students in grades 7, 8 and 9, CODA delivers comprehensive, three-phase, preventive drug education programs in schools:
Phase 1: Drugs And My World - heightens awareness of drugs; how they interact with youth's world
Phase 2: Drugs And Me - drug-specific education about the interplay between drugs, the brain, and the body.
Phase 3: Drugs And My Strength - focused on skills-building, increases protective factors of youth, building their capacity to make right choice.
Each year, CODA touches the lives of thousands of students, teachers and parents in Canada. Case studies and testimonials bear this out. CODA receives financial support from government, foundations, corporations and individuals.