CRCC Story

The CRC certification program is an outgrowth of the professional concerns of two organizations: The American Rehabilitation Counseling Association (ARCA) and the National Rehabilitation Counseling Association (NRCA). Over 35 years ago, these organizations deemed it desirable to establish standards for the rehabilitation counseling profession in order to enhance the quality of service delivery to persons with disabilities. The express intent was to establish a nationwide measure of professionalism to be used by any individual, agency, employer, or interest group with regard to rehabilitation counseling.

Thus, the ARCA and the NRCA created a Joint Committee on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification, which was chartered as a nonprofit organization in 1973 and renamed the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC).

Today, CRCC is composed of appointees from numerous organizations in the rehabilitation counseling community, including:

Professionals Networking for Excellence in Service Delivery with Individuals who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (ADARA),
American Rehabilitation Counseling Association (ARCA),
Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE),
Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR),
International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals (IARP),
National Association of Non-White Rehabilitation Workers (NANWRW),
National Council on Rehabilitation Education (NCRE),
National Rehabilitation Counseling Association (NRCA),
Vocational Rehabilitation Association of Canada (VRAC), and
A Certified Rehabilitation Counselor member-at-large and a Public Member.

These organizations appoint counseling professionals and educators to the board of CRCC, which allows the board to stay connected to current practices in the field. The educators and practitioners on the board focus CRCC on the crucial task of maintaining a comprehensive certification program, including a statistically reliable exam based on continuously updated standards.