1. Become a Member. The individual seeking certification must first join CSCPF as well as a CSCPF Practitioner Community. Please follow the links to Join Us!
   
   
2. Select a Certification Category. The standards and requirements for each CSCPF certification category are available through the CSCPF Certification webpage. After reviewing the applicable standards and requirements carefully, the candidate should discuss with their Practitioner Community their desire to be certified.
   
   
3. Practitioner Community Certification Representative and Preparing Documentation. The Practitioner Community will assign a "Practitioner Community Certification Representative" to facilitate the candidate's certification process. This includes guiding the candidate in collecting all necessary information and documentation. Review(s) of initial drafts of documentation by the candidate's Practitioner Community may occur at this step, and the candidate is encouraged to find a mentor, who might be a Supervisor or Supervisory Education Fellow. The Practitioner Community Certification Representative is to confirm that the candidate meets all the general and specific requirements for the desired certification category before continuing. At this point, the candidate shall submit the Application for Certification. 
   
   
4. Submit Request for Certification Form (online). Only after #3 is complete and the Application for Certification is approved, should the Candidate go online to complete the Request for Certification. This will include submitting PDF copies of the required documentation identified in the Certification Application Checklist. (Please Note: CPE Individual Unit and Comprehensive Evaluations are considered confidential and should not be uploaded as part of the documentation. They should be transmitted via email to the Certification Review Board members only). The Request for Certification form and all information will be forwarded electronically to the CSCPF Certification Team who will inform the Practitioner Community Certification Representative of receipt.
   
   
5. Readiness Review. The Practitioner Community is to provide readiness consults to the candidate to assess level of competencies and readiness for a Readiness Review. The Readiness Review will be provided as a necessary step prior to recommending the candidate to present oneself for an actual Certification Review Board. To be included in the Readiness Review are the written materials required for the level of certification for which the candidate is applying. If any Certification Review Board member(s) come from other Practitioner Communities, they will participate in the Readiness Review. Mentors (including SEFs and/or supervisors acting as mentors) may also participate in the Readiness Review.
   
   
6. Forming a Certification Review Board. Upon the satisfactory completion of the Readiness Review, the Practitioner Community shall recommend the candidate for a Certification Review Board. The Practitioner Community shall form a Certification Review Board for the candidate. This Board shall consist of a CSCPF Commissioned Review Liaison, and three members certified at the level being sought by the candidate. The role of the CSCPF Commissioned Review Liaison is to provide consult, assess dynamics and processes involved in the review, and record observations. The Practitioner Community Certification Representative will coordinate with all participants, including the CSCPF Commissioned Review Liaison, to schedule the date of the Certification Review Board. The candidate may choose their own CSCPF Commissioned Review Liaison from this list.
   
   
7. Certification Review Board. The Certification Review Board shall follow the CSCPF Certification Standards Excerpt of the category of certification being sought. (These can be found on the CSCPF Certification page). The CSCPF Commissioned Review Liaison may be physically present at the candidate's Certification Review Board, or may attend virtually via video conferencing.  Also present, but not a member of the Certification Review Board, shall be a "Process Scribe". The scribal function may be replaced by a recording device with the permission of all participants and any recording must be destroyed once summarized. The Certification Review Board will make its decision immediately following the Review Board meeting, and upon reaching the decision, the candidate shall be immediately informed. At the conclusion of the Certification Review Board, the Certification Review Decision Summary form will be completed, signed by all Certification Review Board members and given to the Practitioner Community Certification Representative.  
   
   
8. "Notice of Decision - Certification": Report Preparation. The CSCPF Commissioned Review Liaison and the candidate must each write reports of their observation of the process and experience. The Process Scribe will write a report summarizing the entire Certification Review process on behalf of the Practitioner Community. Or, if a recording is made in lieu of using a Process Scribe, the Practitioner Community Certification Representative will write a summary after reviewing the recording. All of these reports will be submitted as a part of the Notice of Decision as described in #9 below.
   
   
9. Notice of Decision. The Practitioner Community Certification Representative shall submit an online Notice of Decision - Certification, which will include a request to issue a certificate for positive and provisional decisions. The online submission must include a completed Certification Review Board Decision Summary form and the three reports (by the candidate, the Review Liaison, and the Process Scribe) either in PDF form or entered into the online form itself. 
   
   No certificate will be issued without these four items. When issued, the certificate will be mailed to the Practitioner Community Certification Representative for final signature by the Practitioner Community Liaison. Ideally, the Practitioner Community will present the certificate to its newly certified member at a formal session of the Practitioner Community. In the case of provisional certification, a certificate should not be presented until all provisions are removed.

Appeal. Any decision may be appealed by the candidate in writing to each member of the Certification Review Board and the Practitioner Community Certification Representative.