Spirituality, Mind-Body, Gender, Ecology, Ageing, Peace, Scrapbook (in English and Korean)
2022/06/07
Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Center Accreditation
CPE Center Accreditation:
ACPE is the only agency recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE) to accredit programs of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) in the United States. ACPE currently accredits over 300 CPE programs offered in hospitals, prisons, churches, seminaries, community-based organizations, and other settings across the United States. View a searchable comprehensive directory.
Accreditation is a primary means of quality assurance in the field of CPE. Having originated in institutions of higher education in North America, accreditation is a voluntary activity in which institutions agree on standards of institutional and educational quality and hold themselves, as well as other institutions, accountable to those standards. Accreditation offers an opportunity for institutions to demonstrate that they are committed to maintaining a high level of quality in their programs and that their programs are performing at the level required by the field. Continued accreditation by ACPE provides lasting benefits to students, the institution, faculty members and employees, the profession, and the larger community.
Through Its Accreditation Process, ACPE Seeks to:
- assure quality and promote excellence in CPE programs;
- promote the involvement of faculty and staff in self-assessment of the center and engagement in continuous quality improvement processes;
- assure students of consistency in educational programs;
- promote fairness in conduct and evaluation of educational programs;
- integrate unique clinical/educational resources based on clearly identified learning objectives;
- ensure that the students gain the knowledge and skills necessary to fulfill the roles of spiritual care as clergy and lay leaders as well as to develop professional skills for chaplaincy.
In addition, ACPE programs also help to prepare students for board certification as well as to continue on in a Certified Educator CPE program, which can lead to ACPE Educator Certification.
Benefits of Accreditation with ACPE:
The Accreditation process provides an impetus towards continuous improvement—the reflective institutional self-study provides a starting point for ACPE accredited centers to review their practice, evaluate their programs and receive feedback from professional peers, and the yearly portfolio reviews and the six-year site visit ensure ongoing compliance with ACPE standards.
- The accreditation process gives an ACPE accredited center greater recognition in the larger community. By completing the ACPE process, each ACPE accredited center joins the ranks of institutions who have met the professional standards of ACPE and continue to excel in their missions.
- The accreditation process is an external, objective assessment of an ACPE accredited center’s programs that gives assurance to the community about the quality of the program being offered.
- The accreditation process offers guidance in developing and sustaining institutional functions.
- The accreditation process helps ACPE accredited centers to justify staffing and programmatic needs.
- Because ACPE accreditation is recognized by the USDE, programs are eligible to apply for Medicare Passthrough and Government Funding.
Earning ACPE accreditation is a powerful recruiting tool, signifying that an ACPE accredited center has voluntarily signed on to meet and exceed the professional standards of CPE.
For information about how to become an ACPE accredited center, send an email here.
Accreditation Manual
The Accreditation Manual is the official guide to the process of accreditation of clinical pastoral education centers and programs through ACPE. It is designed to assist centers in understanding, planning for, and engaging ACPE’s accreditation process.
Quick Link: To update your center's listing complete a Changes in Centers, Programs, and Personnel Form or Directory Update Form.
ACPE is nationally recognized as an accrediting agency in the field of clinical pastoral education by the U.S. Secretary of Education through the U.S. Department of Education.
Confirmation of Status Available
The United States Department of Education
Accreditation and State Liaison Division
Office of Postsecondary Education
1990 K Street, Room 7105
Washington, D.C. 20026-8509
Public Comment Invited
A comprehensive directory of centers and programs accredited by ACPE is located online. Written comments are especially welcome early in the year of the ACPE accredited center's scheduled review.
Apply to Volunteer Interfaith Spiritual Care Coalition
Apply to Volunteer — Interfaith Spiritual Care Coalition
Apply to be an ISCC Volunteer
We invite you to join the Interfaith Spiritual Care Coalition. No prior experience is necessary, and we invite any and all to apply. Please see below for volunteer policies and expectations.
CLICK HERE TO APPLY
Volunteer Policies and Expectations
Our Mission: To empower spiritual care volunteers to serve in the healthcare community through recruitment, certified training, and partnership with healthcare agencies.
ISCC is an outreach ministry sponsored by the Institute of Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center. Its primary focus is to address the lack of organized spiritual care resources in underserved healthcare facilities in the Houston region. Faith-based volunteers will be recruited, interviewed, and trained in order to be given the opportunity to establish spiritual care relationships with one or more facilities.
Volunteers will possess a sense of spiritual calling to meet and be available to clients and caregivers, respecting the roles of staff. Generally it is expected that each volunteer will devote a few hours on the same day each week to their designated facility.
The theme of volunteer outreach is “The Power of Presence,” utilizing the gift of genuine connections and relationships built on trust levels. Spiritual care volunteers are:
This new ministry program is a much-needed venture into a segment of our fellow citizens that are often lonely, neglected, or forgotten. The reasons for clients being in a facility are multiple, including physical and/or mental limitations and incapacities, lack of financial resources to live and care for oneself at home, debilitating mental conditions such as dementia, Alzheimers’, mental illness, brain damage, and the ongoing constrictions of aging.
Yet, ISCC believes in the core value and worth of each individual, and offers a spiritual connection and purpose to those who will receive it.
The training (initial and ongoing) will equip volunteers to be genuine listeners, appropriately assertively offering themselves as spiritual sojourners. Agendas of extreme coercion to “convert” clients to a particular understanding of beliefs is not appropriate or tolerated. Genuine traveling spiritually alongside each person regardless of their unique belief system is a rare privilege each volunteer can offer and engage.
The initial volunteer training sessions will be for 3 hours for 3 nights (including an evening meal). Continuing follow-up sessions will be conducted after 3-4 months of the volunteers’ assignments. ISCC will always be ready to hear particular concerns and celebratory stories from the volunteers’ relationships with clients and staff.
Thank you for your thoughtful consideration in becoming an ISCC volunteer.
Apply to be an ISCC Volunteer
We invite you to join the Interfaith Spiritual Care Coalition. No prior experience is necessary, and we invite any and all to apply. Please see below for volunteer policies and expectations.
CLICK HERE TO APPLY
Volunteer Policies and Expectations
Our Mission: To empower spiritual care volunteers to serve in the healthcare community through recruitment, certified training, and partnership with healthcare agencies.
ISCC is an outreach ministry sponsored by the Institute of Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center. Its primary focus is to address the lack of organized spiritual care resources in underserved healthcare facilities in the Houston region. Faith-based volunteers will be recruited, interviewed, and trained in order to be given the opportunity to establish spiritual care relationships with one or more facilities.
Volunteers will possess a sense of spiritual calling to meet and be available to clients and caregivers, respecting the roles of staff. Generally it is expected that each volunteer will devote a few hours on the same day each week to their designated facility.
The theme of volunteer outreach is “The Power of Presence,” utilizing the gift of genuine connections and relationships built on trust levels. Spiritual care volunteers are:
- Able to listen to narratives the help make meaning of life experiences
- Offer friendly conversation with lonely, often overlooked people
- Flexible enough to enter uncomfortable scenarios and offer a quiet presence
- Provide a sense of respect and dignity to anyone encountered
- Self-aware of one’s own limitations and boundaries that trust the process of the spiritual relationship rather than trying to “fix” others
- Open and creative in meeting spoken needs of the clients and facilities, helping find or establish needed resources (such as support groups, devotional studies, etc)
- Willing to connect relationtionally with those who have a different understanding of spirituality than the volunteer has
- Committed to a sense of confidentiality with others’ shared stories, unless personal harm is viewed as possible
- Amenable to use the ISCC staff and resources for reporting and emotional support
This new ministry program is a much-needed venture into a segment of our fellow citizens that are often lonely, neglected, or forgotten. The reasons for clients being in a facility are multiple, including physical and/or mental limitations and incapacities, lack of financial resources to live and care for oneself at home, debilitating mental conditions such as dementia, Alzheimers’, mental illness, brain damage, and the ongoing constrictions of aging.
Yet, ISCC believes in the core value and worth of each individual, and offers a spiritual connection and purpose to those who will receive it.
The training (initial and ongoing) will equip volunteers to be genuine listeners, appropriately assertively offering themselves as spiritual sojourners. Agendas of extreme coercion to “convert” clients to a particular understanding of beliefs is not appropriate or tolerated. Genuine traveling spiritually alongside each person regardless of their unique belief system is a rare privilege each volunteer can offer and engage.
The initial volunteer training sessions will be for 3 hours for 3 nights (including an evening meal). Continuing follow-up sessions will be conducted after 3-4 months of the volunteers’ assignments. ISCC will always be ready to hear particular concerns and celebratory stories from the volunteers’ relationships with clients and staff.
Thank you for your thoughtful consideration in becoming an ISCC volunteer.
===
ISCC Volunteer Application
We welcome you to complete the following application towards volunteering within underserved healthcare facilities. Upon submission of this application, we will call you with an interview to get to know your interests and skills better.
Name and Email *
Phone *
Which days can you volunteer to provide spiritual care support? *
Address *
Are you licensed to provide mental or physical health services, ordained clergy, trained lay volunteer, or an active volunteer in any other capacity?
What is the earliest day you would like to begin volunteering? *
The health and wellness of our clients is of utmost importance to the ISCC. In order to ensure the health and wellness of our clients, we employ strict COVID-19 precautions to safeguard the elderly and high-risk populations. We require all volunteers to:
1) Have an up-to date vaccine and/or booster
2) Always wear a mask, preferably KN95 or N95 to minimize possible exposure
3) Abide by all facility rules and regulations while serving their populations
4) Report any positive COVID-19 tests and/or any COVID-19 exposures
5) Social distance to the best of your ability and employ sanitization practices (washing hands, sanitizing hands, etc.)
Do you agree to follow the outlined COVID-19 precautions as listed above? *
Will you commit to three initial training sessions, then follow up sessions in a few months? (the initial training sessions are in person at ISH on Thursdays, June 9, 16, and 23, 2022, from 6:00-9:00 pm) *
Are you willing to provide ISCC a weekly report on your relational connections as a volunteer? *
Please provide the name, phone number, and email of one person as a reference. *
Please note any dietary restrictions or preferences (for food provided during training sessions)?
Are you willing to have a background check? *
Share a brief description of what attracts you to this spiritual care volunteer role, and what you bring to offer our clients, plus any limitations you feel on commitment to this outreach role: *
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