Substance Abuse Counselor Requirements in Washington, DC: Credentials, Hours and Exams

DC certifies rather than licenses addiction counselors, at two tiers: CAC I and CAC II.

Both are certifications issued by the Board of Professional Counseling, not licences, and both practise strictly under supervision.

A third tier, Advanced Practice Addiction Counselor, along with its companion waiver-of-requirements section, was repealed effective July 19, 2024 (D.C. Law 25-191).

DCAPC, a separate board, issues its own IC&RC certifications (CADC, ACADC) — those are not the same credential as CAC I/II, so a DC-specific CAC letter combination should not be read as matching any other jurisdiction's tier.

CAC I needs at least an associate's degree in health or human services from an accredited institution, including 10 listed coursework areas at 3 hours each (30 hours total).

The rule's alternative — certification by waiver under 17 DCMR § 8702.2 — instead requires 2 years of supervised experience obtained while registered as an addiction counselor, with that registration obtained on or after July 8, 2007, plus a passing score on a national exam the Board deems acceptable.

CAC II needs at least a bachelor's degree in health or human services, with 12 coursework areas totaling 42 hours (the recovery-process area alone is weighted at 9 hours, not 3), or 5 years of documented experience.

DC Health's own CAC application instructions packet states "Associate's degree" for the CAC II route too — that conflicts with both the rule and the statute, so rely on § 8702.4 and § 3-1208.52(a)(1)(A) for the bachelor's floor rather than the instructions packet's wording.

CAC I, the lower-education tier, actually carries the larger hour requirement: at least 500 hours of supervised experience, with a minimum of 40 hours in each of 12 listed practice areas.

CAC II needs at least 180 hours, of which at least 120 must include at least 10 hours in each of the 12 core functions (screening, intake, orientation, assessment, treatment planning, counseling, case management, crisis intervention, education, referral, reporting and consultation).

Both rules set per-area minimums, not just a running total, so a candidate needs to track hours by category as they accrue them, not only the aggregate count.

DC Health's CAC application instructions describe a Temporary Addiction Counseling Practice Form: once an applicant has submitted a CAC application, it lets them work under supervision for up to one year from that submission date while they finish accruing hours or wait to sit the national or DC jurisprudence exam.

CAC I applicants must pass the NAADAC-NCC Level I examination; CAC II applicants the NAADAC-NCC Level II examination.

Initial applicants for either tier must also pass the District's own jurisprudence exam on DC's addiction-counseling statutes, rules, and the NAADAC Code of Ethics (§ 8705.1).

The same exam, if not already passed, is also required of applicants seeking renewal, re-activation, or reinstatement of a certification, or certification by waiver of educational requirements under § 8706.1 or 8706.2; endorsement applicants take it under § 8713.2(c) instead.

The Board offers it at least three times a year.

After three failed attempts, a Board-approved refresher course is required before retesting.

Neither CAC I nor CAC II can practise without direct supervision by someone meeting § 8715.3's standards — a licensed professional counselor, clinical psychologist, clinical social worker, marriage and family therapist, physician, or registered nurse who also holds a NAADAC-NCC or NBCC substance-abuse certification, a current CAC II certification, or at least one year of substance-abuse counseling experience plus at least 100 hours of didactic training in the § 8703.1 areas.

If the agency has multiple locations and no supervisor is available for every site, supervision may run by communication device provided the supervisor still meets with the counselor one hour a week. § 8715.3(a) still lists a now-repealed "advanced practice addiction counselor" as a qualifying supervisor credential — a stale cross-reference to confirm with the Board. § 8715.2 cross-references § 8714 for a supervisor's scope of practice, and § 8715.7 cross-references § 8714.2 for documentation duties; the captured § 8714 text is a verbatim duplicate of § 8713, so what §§ 8714 and 8714.2 actually cover is Not stated in the sources read.

The Code's definition of the "practice of addiction counseling" lists diagnosis as one of seven included activities, alongside prevention, crisis intervention, referral, direct treatment, follow-up, and the education and training of persons in the field of addiction counseling.

The regulation's own definitions section defines "Diagnosis" as a reference to an individual's alcohol or drug abuse, or to a condition identified as caused by that abuse, made for the purpose of treatment or referral for treatment — and both CAC I and CAC II practise this and every other listed activity only under an authorized health-care professional's supervision.

Whether an unsupervised or uncertified person may lawfully practise addiction counseling in DC at all, and whether LPCs, LCSWs, or LMFTs are exempt from CAC certification, are Not stated in the sources read.

The Board certifies by endorsement an addiction counselor who holds a valid, unrestricted certification in good standing from another U.S. jurisdiction, on proof of that standing, a passing score on the NAADAC or another state-approved exam, and DC's jurisprudence exam under § 8713.2(c).

The Board of Professional Counseling itself is not an IC&RC member board for this credential — the research file's own state table marks CAC I/II "Board cert: IC&RC N."

DCAPC, a separate board, holds DC's IC&RC membership and issues CADC/ACADC certifications on its own track; moving an IC&RC credential into DCAPC does not by itself certify someone as a CAC I or II, which still requires going through § 8713's endorsement route.

Certification expires at midnight on December 31 of each even-numbered year.

From the second renewal cycle onward, renewal requires 40 hours of approved continuing education in the preceding two years, including 6 hours of ethics, 3 hours of trauma counseling, 2 hours of LGBTQ cultural competency or specialized clinical training, and at least 10% of the total in whatever public health priorities DC Health's Director has designated.

That CE requirement does not apply to a certification holder's first-time renewal.

D.C. Law 25-191 repealed both the Advanced Practice Addiction Counselor credential and its companion waiver-of-requirements section, effective July 19, 2024.

That repeal has not been fully carried through the certification rules: § 8715.3(a) still names "an advanced practice addiction counselor" as a credential that can qualify someone to supervise a CAC I or CAC II, pointing at a tier the Code no longer recognizes — confirm current supervisor qualifications with the Board rather than relying on that clause alone.

Separately, the continuing-education rule at § 8708.2 and the definitions at § 8799.2 were amended by rulemaking published December 2, 2022; no later amendment to 17 DCMR ch. 87 appears in the text read.