Requirements — Certified Prevention Professional (CPP)

Requirements include —

  1. Bachelor's Degree in any field, from a college or university accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting body (i.e. The North Central Association). IAPP requires official transcripts to be sent by the university registrar.
  2. Completion of an approved application, including documentation of all education and experience requirements, and payment of the credentialing review fee.
  3. Completion of approved education, including:
    • The IAPP-approved course "Principles of Drug Abuse Prevention". No substitutions or exemptions will be approved for this course, which must be taken through IAPP. This course includes "Exploring Ethics in the Prevention Field 2001" course and "Cultural Competence Workshop.”
    • 3 semester hour (approximately 45 clock hours) approved college-level drug information course. This requirement can be fulfilled with college credit courses, equivalent approved non-credit courses, IAPP approved correspondence course or by successfully completing the DANTES Standardized Test on “Drug and Alcohol Abuse” www.getcollegecredit.com. The website and newsletters will periodically site other approved courses. Previously taken courses may count if they are approved by the IAPP. Correspondence courses are offered through the University of Louisville and Western Kentucky University. This requirement will usually be met by completion of courses taken as part of the Bachelor's Degree in a helping profession. If comparable courses were not included in the Bachelor's or Master's Degree, they may be taken on a credit or non-credit basis.
  4. Minimum of 2000 hours of approved, bona fide drug abuse prevention experience. This requirement may be met by one year's full-time experience in a professional position that was 100% drug abuse prevention-oriented. For experience in multi-function agencies (such as those doing counseling, intervention, or treatment, as well as prevention), careful documentation of at least 2000 hours of prevention experience will be required.

To maintain the credential, a Certified Prevention Professional must:

  • Complete at least 2000 additional hours of prevention experience every three years.
  • Complete 50 clock hours of approved continuing education every three years.
  • Submit recredentialing form, CEU documentation and payment every three years.

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