Under Section 1280.120 Continuing Education, a) Continuing Education (CE) Hours Requirements:

8) CE credit hours completed pursuant to this Section may be used to satisfy the CE requirements under other related Acts.

What this means:  You may not need 20 hours + whatever hours you need for your other license. CE credit hours you receive for this profession could apply to your other professions as well. You need to check that specific profession, for example Counseling, Marriage & Family, Psychology or Social work to see what qualifies. Those links are included below.  

As a reminder, ILATSA is also an IDFPR approved provider for Social Work CE’s.

In the section b) Approved Continuing Education

• CE hours shall be earned by verified attendance (e.g., certificate of attendance or certificate of completion) at or participation in a program or course (program) that is offered or sponsored by an approved CE sponsor who meets the requirements set forth in subsection (c), except for those activities provided in subsections (b)(2) or (3).

Here we would like to highlight the “approved sponsor” piece. We encourage you to review Section 2) and 3) on your own.

Here is a list of approved CE Sponsors and Programs:

1. c)         Approved CE Sponsors and Programs

1)         Sponsor, as used in this Section, shall mean:

1. A)        American Psychological Association or its affiliates
2. B)        National Association of Social Work or its affiliates
3. C)        American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy or its affiliates
4. D)        American Medical Association or its affiliates
5. E)        Illinois Psychological Association or its affiliates
6. F)         Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers
7. G)        Illinois Association for Treatment of Sexual Abusers
8. H)        American Counseling Association or its affiliates
9. J)         American Nurse Credentialing Center or its affiliates
10. K)        Authorized CE providers under the Marriage and Family Therapy Licensing Act
11. L)        Authorized CE providers under the Professional Counselor and Clinical Professional Counselor Licensing and Practice Act
12. M)       Authorized CE providers under the Clinical Psychologist Licensing Act
13. N)        Authorized CE providers under the Clinical Social Work and Social Work Practice Act
14. O)        Authorized CE providers under the Nurse Practice Act
15. P)         Authorized CE providers under the Medical Practice Act of 1987
16. Q)        Any regionally accredited school, college or university, or any State agency
17. R)        American Probation and Parole Association

What this means:  By statute, all the organizations listed above are qualified CE providers. CE credit hours you receive by – for example – attending a training that is approved by APA or American Counseling Association or NASW for continuing education credit may be used toward your LSOE and/or LSOTP licenses. The training must specify it is approved for continuing education credit. There should also be reasonable evidence that the course content is applicable for sex-offense-specific evaluation or treatment. For example, a training on trauma, EMDR or CBT could be reasonably applied to our profession.

ILATSA is a non-profit organization. The cost to maintain several CE sponsorships, and the various record keeping requirements involved is both time-intense and cost-prohibitive to our volunteer organization. To keep training costs low, ILATSA decided to pursue sponsorship as a CE provider for the Social Work licenses only. We are NOT an IDFPR board-approved CE provider for other professions.

However, in reviewing the relevant statutes, we believe that CE credit earned from Social work-approved programs may qualify for other professions.

For Licensed counselors, see: Section 1375.220  Continuing Education part c) then  F). http://www.ilga.gov/commission/jcar/admincode/068/068013750C02200R.html

Other licenses, such as Psychology and Marriage & Family have provisions that specify how a person may apply for a training to be considered for Continuing Education credit toward licensure. Again, check with your specific licensing board by using the links below.

ATSA (Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers), the international organization, is listed as an approved sponsor above for Licensed Sex Offender Evaluators and Licensed Sex Offender Treatment Providers. Other chapters, outside Illinois, may or may not qualify.

Check with the specific training organizer as they will list CE’s provided, if any. Again, also check with your specific licensing board by using the links below to see if the training qualifies, or if you can apply to your board for CE consideration.