The written exam takes place first. Individuals may not schedule the oral exam until after they have passed the written exam. All written exams are computer-based and can be scheduled to be taken at the APCBNJ Office 

Process for registering for and taking a computerized exam: 

After the ABCBNJ receives your registration form, fee and current Test Approval letter from the ADCC/DCA-ADCC (if applicable), you will be pre-register with Schroder Measurement Technologies, Inc. (SMT), the IC&RC’s testing firm (approximately 2-3 weeks maximum). 

It is important that you use your personal email as an increasing number of agencies are using more secure servers that might block incoming email from the APCBNJ or the Testing Company. 

SMT/ISO Quality Testing Center will send you a link with an ID and password to choose the date and time you want to take the exam. 

The exam is 150 multiple choice questions administered in a point and click format. You can bookmark questions and come back to them later in the exam. There is a short (5 minute) tutorial to make sure you understand the process prior to starting the exam. 

You will receive your preliminary score immediately after the completing the exam. 

Exam scores for the “ADC” exam will be sent to the Board of Marriage and Family Therapy Examiner’ ADCC for inclusion in your file.

The written exam concentrates on the 12 core competencies of addiction counseling. A good resource to review is SAMHSA’s TAP 21 Addiction Counselor Competencies: The Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes of Professional Practice (CSAT, 2017). The TAP is available free and can be downloaded from the SAMHSA National Clearinghouse website: store.samhsa.gov/product/TAP-21-Addiction-Counseling- Competencies/SMA15-4171. 

The oral exam consists of formulating and answering questions regarding a case presentation. Distance Learning Center (DLC) has prepared a “Getting Ready to Test” exam manual that helps the applicant prepare for both the written and oral examination. The manuals may be purchased at http://www.readytotest.com/. 

APCBNJ has a link for “Directions for Preparing a Case Presentation.” It can be found at www.certbd.org. 

An IC&RC study guide is available by calling 717-540-4455. https://internationalcredentialing.org/examprep

The oral exam is reviewed by trained addiction professionals hired as consultants by APCBNJ. Each oral exam is rated by three reviewers.

Distance Learning Center publishes three test manuals that are available for purchase directly from the Distance Learning website (http://www.readytotest.com/, https://www.dlcas.com)

Candidates will prepare a case study and respond to each of the following questions, using the Global Criteria and providing examples. 

• SCREENING—Describe the purpose of screening and the processes used with this client. 

• INTAKE—Describe the elements of intake and how the intake process was completed in this case. 

• ORIENTATION—Describe the process of orienting this client to your services. 

• ASSESSMENT—Describe the methods and procedures used to assess this client and explain the results of those assessments. 

• TREATMENT PLANNING—Identify the components of treatment planning and describe the treatment planning process that occurred between you and your client. 

• COUNSELING—dentify your counseling approaches and theories, and thoroughly describe how you applied them to your client. 

• CASE MANAGEMENT—Describe the purpose of case management and how it applied to this client. 

• CRISIS INTERVENTION—Give an example of a crisis occurring in this case and explain how you responded to it. If no crisis occurred, give an example of a crisis using another case. 

• CLIENT EDUCATION—What is the purpose of client education and describe how you provided it in this case. 

• REFERRAL—Describe the process of referral and explain how it was used in this case. 

• RECORDKEEPING—Describe the report and recordkeeping process and how they were used in this case. 

• CONSULTATION WITH OTHER PROFESSIONALS—Describe the purpose of, the rationale for and the results of consultations necessary in this case. If no consultation occurred, provide an example from another case. 

(See link for 12 Core Functions and corresponding Global Criteria) http://certbd.org/site/wp-content/uploads/CoreFunctionsGlobalCriteria.pdf

You can sit for the written and oral exams only after approval by the ADCC. When an applicant submits his/her application to the ADCC and it has been approved, he/she will receive a letter stating that he/she may schedule the written and oral exam. The ADCC notifies the APCBNJ that the applicant has been approved to take the test. It is the individual’s responsibility to register with the APCBNJ to take the exam. Once both tests are passed, the ADCC schedules a background check.

Written exam scores are available immediately upon completion of the computer-based test.

The written examination is an international alcohol and drug proficiency test published by the IC&RC. The test reflects the results of federal studies, CDC guidelines re: HIV, changes to the DSM (5), and a Job Task Analysis of addiction counselors. Guidance with the written exam process and sample questions can be found on the IC&RC website. The questions change with each exam. 

Sample test preps can be found: https://internationalcredentialing.org/examprep https://internationalcredentialing.org/ADC.Study.Guides

Should you fail the exam you may repeat the registration process and retake the exam after 90 days. Those who fail 3 times are required to take a refresher course prior to retaking the exam again. Fees apply for each attempt. Refresher courses may be taken through an approved education provider. Scores (and deficiencies) for each ‘domain’ are provided with test results. After the third attempt or thereafter to pass the written and/or oral sections of the examination, the applicant may not reapply a fourth time or any time thereafter without having successfully completed a course(s) in the subject matter(s) in which the written and/or oral examination has demonstrated the applicant’s deficiencies.

Both exams have scores, which are determined by the testing company’s “cut score” process for each type of exam. The written exam’s passing score is a score of at least 500 out of a possible 800. The Oral Exam is 76% out of 100% to pass.

Individuals holding a master’s degree and/or those who have completed certain graduate programs are not exempt from the written and/or oral exam. The exemption applies only to those individuals who hold an active New Jersey clinical license in an appropriate discipline as listed on page 15 of the LCADC application. The professional license must be appropriate to provide independent (non- supervised) practice at the master’s or doctorate level and includes: 

• Ph.D./Psy.D. – Doctor of Psychology (New Jersey licensed) 

• M.D/D.O. – Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (New Jersey licensed) 

• LCSW – Licensed Clinical Social Worker (New Jersey licensed) 

• APN – Advanced Practice Nurse (New Jersey licensed) 

• LPC – Licensed Professional Counselor (New Jersey licensed) 

• LMFT – Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (New Jersey licensed)

Approval is given to take the written/oral exam upon submission of an application for certification/licensure. Schedule A of the application should be completed, or an approved Proposed Plan be on file to indicate that the candidate is currently working on completing the 300 and/or 3,000 hours of supervised training and work experience. The process above of submitting application and receiving approval to sit for written/oral exam may be completed prior to finishing all required experience hours.