Western New York and the Finger Lakes region score highest in State for the new ICRC CASAC exam

In June of 2008, the NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services adopted the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium's standard for CASAC testing. The new CASAC testing requirements would eliminate the oral exam portion of the test and create a more stringent written exam that would have international reciprocity. The old exam was based on the 12-core functions of substance abuse counseling and the new exam is based on the TAP-21 or the eight practice dimensions and 124 counselor competences.

The first of the new ICRC exams was given on June 14th, 2008. The international pass rate was 71%, 20% above the New York State average of 51%. However, the pass rate for Western NY and the Finger Lakes region was 83%, which is 12% above the international pass rate. The Albany area scored a 71% pass rate and New York City scored a 42% pass rate, bringing down the State average considerably.

Western NY and the Finger lakes region have been leading the pack for many years in terms of producing qualified CASAC's who score well above the state average on the CASAC exam. In this region, we are fortunate to partner with excellent educational institutions which include substance abuse as part of their curriculum and/or provide certificate programs in the area of Chemical dependency. The later, in combination with quality clinical supervision is most likely the difference for this region producing the states highest quality CASAC's. Hats off to Western NY and the Finger Lakes providers for setting the bar high.