Substance Abuse Counselor Requirements in Arkansas: Credentials, Hours and Exams

The SBEADAC, under the Arkansas Department of Health, issues two licences: the Licensed Associate Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselor (LAADAC) and the Licensed Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselor (LADAC).

Both are licences, and the difference the rule draws between them is education level — a baccalaureate degree for the LAADAC, a master's degree for the LADAC.

The rule says all SBEADAC licensure action is governed by Ark.

Code Ann. § 17-27-401 et seq., but the statute was not retrieved, so whether the licence is required to practise — practice protection versus title protection — is Not stated in the sources read.

The Arkansas Substance Abuse Certification Board (ASACB) is a separate, private IC&RC member board certifying ADC, AADC and CS; it is not the regulator.

The degree floor separates the tiers: a baccalaureate degree for the LAADAC, a master's degree for the LADAC, each in the health or behavioral sciences field or other appropriate field from an accredited college or university.

The official transcript must be mailed directly from the college or university to the board.

On top of the degree, both tiers need the same 270 clock hours of approved education, and every education hour is subject to review and approval by the SBEADAC Credentialing Committee.

Applicants must verify three (3) years of supervised work experience in the field of Substance Abuse and Mental Health.

The rule sets no hour total and no supervision-hour count — the requirement is stated only in years.

The facility-or-supervisor condition attaches to the whole requirement: to meet it, the applicant must show work in a facility licensed and/or accredited as a substance use disorder (SUD) treatment program or under a supervisor with a credential specific to SUD treatment.

Internship, practicum and volunteer hours are something the applicant may be able to use — not automatically creditable.

There is also a currency condition: an applicant must have been in SUD practice in all or part of the 12 months preceding application, and an applicant who was not must complete six (6) hours of professional ethics training, with the Board able to require more.

Licensure requires passing a national qualifying written examination prescribed by the SBEADAC.

The rule does not name the examination and does not tie it to any testing organization, so guides that name a specific exam or administrator for Arkansas go beyond the rule text read.

The reciprocity routes described below likewise ask for proof of passing a nationally qualifying written examination, again without naming one.

Because the experience requirement is counted in years, the placement is what makes the years count.

The work must be in a facility licensed and/or accredited as a substance use disorder (SUD) treatment program, or under a supervisor with a credential specific to SUD treatment — so before accepting an offer, confirm the site or the supervisor meets one of those two conditions.

Applications include a Supervision Verification form and a Supervised Work Experience form, and the detailed records behind them are not optional: the supervision record must be maintained by the applicant and supervisor, produced when the board asks, and must include the supervisor's observation of the applicant's ethical demonstration of the 12 Core Functions; the work-experience record, with specific duties under each job title, must be kept ready for submission when the board requests it.

The rule also strongly recommends keeping that detailed record of supervision topics, timeline and job duties for the full three years, which the board may call for in a dispute.

The rule text read does not describe the licence's scope of practice, diagnosis authority, or independent-practice rights, and the statute carrying that language (A.C.A. § 17-27-401 et seq.) was not retrieved — so what an Arkansas SUD counselor may do, including whether one may diagnose, is Not stated in the sources read.

The rule does show that a scope exists in law: the board may discipline a licensee who has practiced outside the scope of practice for which he or she is licensed or certified under the subchapter.

The practice frame the rule itself names is the 12 Core Functions, observed by the supervisor during the supervised years.

Reciprocity requires a substantially similar licence — master's-level for the LADAC, bachelor's-level for the LAADAC — in good standing in another US jurisdiction, no revocation for bad faith or a violation of law, rule or ethics; no suspended or probationary licence.

Competence is shown by a passed nationally qualifying written examination, three professional letters of recommendation, and an unopened transcript.

On receipt of the application, fee and core documentation, the board must issue a temporary and provisional licence immediately — effective until the board decides; immediately revoked if the applicant fails the licence-similarity or competence requirements.

A separate route covers counselors from states that do not license the profession.

Where the applicant's state offers Arkansas residents no similar reciprocity under A.C.A. § 17-1-108, the board shall require the tier's degree — master's (LADAC) or bachelor's (LAADAC) in the health or behavioral science field or other appropriate field, from an accredited college or university.

The licence is not an IC&RC credential — ASACB is the IC&RC member board, so an IC&RC transfer is a private certification, not this licence.

The licence renews on a two-year cycle.

The biennial fee is $250 for the LADAC or $200 for the LAADAC if submitted by December 31, rising in steps to $450 or $400 by April 30.

If renewal materials and fees are not submitted by December 31, the licence expires effective that date and is suspended until the delinquent materials are submitted and approved — and a licensee not reinstated within four (4) months must apply as a new applicant.

Practising while suspended violates Act 443 of 2009.

Each cycle requires forty (40) hours of continuing education earned in the previous twenty-four (24) months, with a minimum of twenty (20) hours specific to addiction counseling or co-occurring disorders, no more than fifty percent online, and up to thirty-two (32) hours creditable at one hour per eight hours of volunteer service under Ark.

Code Ann. § 20-8-804.

The codified rule text read (the LII file, retrieved 2026-09-24) contains the reciprocity, temporary-licence and re-licensure sections but no automatic-licensure section.

A SBEADAC markup copy received by the Bureau of Legislative Research in January 2024 adds a proposed Automatic Occupational Licensure section for an applicant who establishes residency in Arkansas: one year licensed elsewhere in good standing, or three years working in a state that does not license the occupation; no disqualifying criminal offense; no pending complaint, allegation or investigation in Arkansas or the prior state; and a state-law examination the Department of Health may waive.

Once granted, the licensee must still meet every other licensure and renewal requirement, including continuing education.

The same file pairs the markup with the engrossed Act 137 of 2023 (SB 193, approved February 24, 2023), which amends A.C.A. § 17-4-107 on accepting uniformed service education, training and national certifications toward initial licensure.

Whether the markup was finally adopted is not stated in the sources read.

Applicants must be twenty-one (21) or older; fees are $265.00 (LADAC) and $215 (LAADAC).

Under Act 725 of 2021 the board waives initial licence fees for Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, TANF or Lifeline recipients, unemployment approval in the last twelve (12) months, or income up to 200% of the federal poverty guidelines.

Act 990 of 2019 allows a pre-licensure criminal-record petition (decision not appealable) and board waiver of disqualification for a conviction listed in A.C.A.

17-3-102 (a) or (e); a waiver determination is appealable under the Administrative Procedures Act (25-15-201 et seq.).

Act 746 of 2021 extends licensure to a qualified applicant with a federal Form I-766 work permit.

Act 135 of 2021 grants automatic licensure to a similar-scope out-of-state licensee in good standing: a service member stationed in Arkansas; a veteran (discharged other than dishonorably) residing in or establishing Arkansas residency; or a spouse — of such a member or veteran; of a member whose tour of duty excludes the spouse, who relocates to Arkansas; or of a member killed in the line of duty, where the spouse establishes residency.