CPD Requirements

There are several ways to comply with Continuing Professional Development (CPD):

• Individuals who do not qualify for a Military Exemption or Deem Status must participate in the CPD Program in order to renew, reactivate or reinstate a certificate/license.
  • The general requirement for participating mental health workers is 40 Professional Development Hours (PDH) for each two-year renewal cycle (September 1st of odd years thru August 31st of odd years). No more than 20 hours will be accepted in a single activity category.   Using the reflective practice steps will ensure that the professional development is significant to you and carried over into your practice.  The Reflective Practice Steps and PDA/Documentation Guidelines can be found in the Professional Portfolios.
     
• A Military Exemption is available to Individuals who are absent from the State of Colorado due to federally funded active duty military service. To find out if you qualify, please read the rule regarding a Military Exemption in your profession’s set of Rules and Regulations.
   
• Deem Status is NOT an exemption, but another way to comply with CPD. Two things must be in place in order for a licensee to qualify for Deem Status:
  • 1) Licensees must be employed by or contracted by another department of the State of Colorado; and
  • 2) Licensees must be participating in a program of Continuing Competence through that state department, whether it’s as an employee or through a contractual agreement. That program should be similar to CPD in that it requires mental health professionals accrue at least 20 hour per year and should be relevant to the mental health field.

* If a licensee leaves the state department for which they were able to claim Deem Status, it’s necessary to update the CPD Portal to reflect this. Once a licensee is no longer eligible for Deem Status, the traditional requirements of 40 PDHs come into play. For this reason, it may be helpful to log PDH and collect the appropriate forms of documentation regardless of your method of compliance. Individuals who claim Deem Status are still subject to an audit.

 
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