Certification Standards and Interpretive Language Changes
The NCTRC Board of Directors continually monitors data related to recreational therapy practice, healthcare trends, the applicants' academic preparation and professional experience, and modifies the NCTRC Certification Standards accordingly. In doing so, the Board ensures the NCTRC Certification Standards remain relevant with current professional practice and in compliance with the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), the accrediting organization of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (I.C.E.). As a result of the Board's efforts, there are several changes related to the NCTRC Certification Standards and Interpretive Guidelines.
Equivalency Path A Phased Out as of July 1, 2021
The Equivalency Path A option was phased out as of July 1, 2021. Any application received on or after July 1, 2021 will have to meet the certification requirements for the Equivalency Path option.
Internship Standards and Interpretive Guidelines Changes
Internship Certification Standard
A minimum 560-hour, 14-week internship experience in therapeutic recreation services that uses the therapeutic recreation process as defined by the current NCTRC Job Analysis Study under the supervision of both academic and agency internship supervisors who are NCTRC CTRS® certified. The agency supervisor must also possess the CTRS® credential for one year prior to supervising an internship student. An acceptable internship experience is one which is completed after the majority of required therapeutic recreation and general recreation coursework is completed as verified on the official transcript.
Interpretive Guidelines
Progressive learning experiences using the therapeutic recreation process as defined by the current NCTRC Job Analysis is an integral component of professional preparation in therapeutic recreation.
- Active certification status of CTRS® Supervisor: The primary supervisor must possess active certification status at the CTRS® level on the first day of the applicant’s internship and have been certified for at least one year prior to supervising interns. Any change in certification status of the supervisor during the internship shall not affect the certification eligibility of an applicant.
- Academic Internship
Supervisor must be an active CTRS® at the start of the internship experience and must be employed at the college/university. The CTRS® cannot serve in the capacity of both the academic supervisor and agency supervisor during a given internship experience.
- Internship Should Be Completed After Coursework: An acceptable internship must be completed after the majority of required therapeutic recreation and general recreation coursework is completed. Verification of the completed internship must appear on the official academic transcript. The majority of therapeutic recreation and recreation content coursework is defined as no less than 12 semester or 16 quarter hours of coursework with at least 9 semester or 12 quarter hours in therapeutic recreation content coursework. This requirement
applies to coursework completed at the degree earning institution and does not apply to coursework completed after the academic degree is conferred.
- Academic credit and an evaluative grade: The student must receive academic credit and an evaluative grade for the internship experience as verified by an official transcript. The internship experience must be completed over the same dates as the semester or quarter in which the student receives academic credit for the experience.
Summary of Changes
The following components of the internship certification standard and interpretive guidelines have been removed. While the
academic program may continue to use these guidelines to structure the internship experience, NCTRC will no longer require students to adhere to them. The format of the internship experience should be determined by the agency supervisor, the internship site, and the academic supervisor.
Language Removed from the Internship Certification Standard:
- The word, consecutive, was removed from the requirement of a minimum of 560-hour, 14 consecutive week internship experience.
Language Removed from the Interpretive Guidelines:
- The requirement that the primary agency CTRS® supervisor must be employed a minimum of 30 hours a week with at least 50% of the job duties within therapeutic recreation service at the sponsoring agency.
- The internship experience should be continuous and uninterrupted. No less than 20 hours per week or more than 45 hours per week will be accepted for the internship experience, except as may be provided in the Internship Interruption Guidelines.
- The total hours may not be split among different agencies or accumulated over multiple sites.