Criminal Justice Addictions Professional Certification

America has lost the War on Drugs, but there have been a lot of casualties along the way. Tough laws aimed and an intensive focus on drug arrests has brought many addicts into the prison system. Drug offenders account for more than one third of the growth of state prison populations since 1985. And, according to Bureau of Prisons data from 2022, they make up an astounding 46 percent of federal inmates.

All told, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 85 percent of America’s prison population has an active substance use disorder (SUD) or was incarcerated for drug-related crimes.

With proof positive that the country can’t arrest its way out of a drug crisis, it’s clear that those individuals need the same kind of treatment and assistance as any other person with a substance use disorder. But there are big challenges in treating them once they are tangled up with the criminal justice system.

The treatment community has started to answer those challenges. The most effective solution is a new specialization in the field: Criminal Justice Addiction Professionals.

What Are Criminal Justice Addiction Professionals?

Criminal justice addictions professionals are fully credentialed substance abuse counselors who specialize in working with people who had substance use disorders who are also entangled with the legal system in some way. They can be drawn from any of the various ranks of substance use disorder counseling careers. But they also have additional training and experience in the extra complications that come with treating an SUD in a forensic environment.

You will find these positions listed under titles such as:

Of course, many of them are listed under the same position titles as other SUD counselors and peer recovery coaches—the only thing that marks them out as criminal justice positions are the employers.

But you’ll also find that the day-to-day work of an addiction treatment professional in the criminal justice world takes on a few twists and turns.

What Is the Role of Criminal Justice Addiction Professionals in Sud Treatment?

Basically, criminal justice addiction professionals carry on the same kind of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment work as any other SUD counselor… but they do so in prison environments or in either pre- or post-carceral settings.

Of course, that very setting shifts the duties of counselors toward case and resource management and advocacy work. Your patients have lost the ability to make all their own choices, or seek resources or environmental changes to fight addiction. It may not even be their decision to work with you in the first place.

Since the lives of your patients are under the control of the state, it can become as important to work with a judge, lawyer, or prison warden toward recovery options as it is to work with the patient themselves.

The sheer volume of drug treatment requirements wrapped up in the criminal justice system means addiction professionals here very often engage in group counseling work.

All this additional work is wrapped around the basics that every substance abuse counselor has to master. It can include:

With the extra training and experience to work in carceral settings, you can deliver effective treatment even to the most hardened offenders.

Earning Professional Certification as a Criminal Justice Addictions Professional

The primary credential available to SUD specialists in criminal justice treatment is the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium’s (IC&RC) Criminal Justice Addictions Professional Certification (CCJP).

Although IC&RC is a national and even international certification body, you can only obtain the CCJP by working through their various state-affiliated boards. While you can find those boards in just about every state, not all of them offer the CCJP credential.

Among the states that do offer it, however, if you qualify in one, that qualification will also be accepted in the others.

Each state board is free to set their own standards, but they have to at least meet the IC&RC minimums. Typically, you will need:

An existing SUD counseling license or certification (some states will also allow licensed social workers, psychologists, or professional counselors to apply for a CCJP)
At least 100 hours of additional SUD training specific to CCJP practice domains
At least 2,000 hours of specific experience in criminal justice SUD practice, and 6,000 hours of overall SUD practice
300 hours of supervision in criminal justice counseling settings
Passing the IC&RC CCJP exam

The hours required for the credential can be lowered if you have earned higher level college degrees; for example, the 6,000 hours of overall SUD practice could drop to only 1,000 if you have earned a doctoral degree.

The CCJP is a professional qualification rather than a legal one. You aren’t restricted from treating prisoners or parolees if you don’t have a CCJP. Instead, it’s a sign to your potential employers and other contacts that you have gone the extra mile to develop additional expertise in this highly sensitive area of substance abuse treatment.

Where Do Criminal Justice Addiction Professionals Work?

Credentials for CCJPs are aimed at individuals working in one of three settings:

In some cases, they are employed directly by state, federal, or local prison authorities to work in those positions. In others, they may work for non-profits or contract private companies who provide services in those facilities.

Other addiction professionals may work directly with police agencies, helping officers shape their response to crimes involving drugs and people experiencing addiction. They may even assist at the policy level, developing new protocols for handling such individuals.

Can Criminal Justice Addiction Professionals Be the New First Responders for Drug Offenses?

Although the War on Drugs has been lost, there are still plenty of troops in the field. Fighting rear-guard actions and going through the motions of failed strategies because nothing has yet replaced them, many police departments haven’t really got the message yet that something else has to happen to save America from the addiction crisis.

But there are places where substance abuse counselors are becoming the first responders instead of police.

Eugene, Oregon, was one of the first. CAHOOTS, Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets, began in 1989. Run by a local non-profit White Bird Clinic, the program hands out police radios to two-person social services teams which can include social workers, mental and behavioral health specialists, and addiction counselors. When appropriate, those teams can be dispatched to non-violent calls that otherwise the police would have to handle.

Offering interventions, counseling, first aid, or transportation to places with human services, CAHOOTS takes a new approach to dealing with drug abuse on the streets. It, and programs like it, may be the newest and best way that addiction counselors can help keep patients out of the criminal justice system in the first place.

Others are employed by drug courts or other specialized diversion programs. They may be responsible for working directly with people convicted under such programs, or advising judges on the types of treatment or odds of success in such cases.

While Bureau of Labor Statistics data on the salaries for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors makes it tough to tease out differences between criminal justice specialists and other counseling jobs, the fact that more of these are likely to be hired directly by the government offers one way to tease out likely compensation. Individuals in those roles working for federal, state, or local government agencies in 2023 averaged $67,730 annually. That’s well above the $53,710 average for the category for all employers.

What Kind of Degree Do You Need To Become a Criminal Justice Substance Abuse Counselor?

The education and training for criminal justice addiction professionals mirrors other kinds of substance abuse counselors, since you need exactly the same license or certification.

But it’s also possible to find degree and certificate programs that are specifically aimed at treating addiction in criminal justice settings, such as the Associate of Science in Addictive Disorders Studies in the Criminal Justice System, the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies in Criminal Justice Substance Abuse Concentration, or a Certificate in Chemical Dependency Specialist in Criminal Justice.

Even in substance abuse degrees that don’t have a formal concentration in criminal justice treatment, you will often find elective classes available that dive into the specialty.

The coursework you’ll find in specialized programs will cover all the usual topics of study for addiction professionals, but go into more depth in areas like:

The Dynamics of Addiction & Criminal Behavior
Criminal Justice System Processes
Clinical Evaluation in Criminal Justice Settings
Documentation and Case Management in Criminal Justice
Monitoring and Participant Supervision Challenges and Requirements

You’ll also find specialized courses in legal, ethical, and professional responsibilities for counselors working within the criminal justice system.

Specialized Training Is Needed To Work Effectively as a Criminal Justice Addictions Professional

All of these degree and certificate programs put valuable education behind your criminal justice addiction treatment skills. But there may be additional coursework and training requirements in your state to become a licensed or certified addiction counselor, and to earn the IC&RC CCJP credential.

Most schools attempt to design their programs to meet state educational requirements for substance use disorder counseling credentials, but it’s always worth checking. If not, you’ll be able turn to an additional certificate or training courses to cover those subjects.

That’s also likely to be the case for CCJP qualification. In some states, certificate or associate degree programs will give you everything you need to cover initial training hour requirements for entry-level addiction counseling credentials and the CCJP.

There are also dedicated online training programs that focus on delivering the required hours and topics for the CCJP. Since the IC&RC standards are similar from state to state, these are usually well-aligned with requirements. In some cases, you may find that some amount of in-person education is also required.

Your community and your patients need you to get that training. With one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, the United States has proven it can’t arrest its way out of substance use disorders. But it can treat them, and it needs more professionals to do it.

2023 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary and employment figures for Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors reflect national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed April 2024.