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Development of MHA NCPS Certification

January 2015: MHA begins the process of developing the first national, advanced peer specialist certification.
March 2015: MHA signs partnership agreement with Florida Certification Board to develop and administer MHA National Certified Peer Specialist (NCPS) certification.
August 2015: MHA convenes a group of subject matter experts to lead the development of MHA NCPS certification. Members include Patrick Hendry, Sue Bergeson, Larry Fricks, Tom Lane, Joseph Rogers, Janie Marsh, Andrew Bertagnolli, Andrea Crook, Larry Real, and Brenda Bergeson.
October 2015: First survey of core competencies for MHA NCPS certification opens for public comment.
November 2015: Subject matter experts review comments and adjust competencies based on feedback from over 1,000 peers.
February 2016: Role Delineation Study sent to over 10,000 peers. Peers rated 55 competencies by importance and frequency of use in their work.
June 2016: Florida Certification Board psychometrician determines exam blueprint based on data from Role Delineation Study, which resulted in the 125-question MHA NCPS examination.
August 2016: MHA selected item writers from the peer community to develop questions for the MHA NCPS examination. Item writers were trained on how to write valid multiple-choice questions based on accreditation standards.
November 2016: MHA NCPS examination questions finalized based on subject matter review and discussions.
January 2017: Online examination developed and tested.
March 2017: MHA NCPS examination launches with scholarships available for the first 110 applicants.
February 2018: MHA signs partnership agreement with Mental Health Partnerships (MHP). MHP has trained over 3,500 peer supporters through its Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) Training.
March 2018: MHA signs partnership agreement with RI International. RI International has trained over 9,500 peers through its Peer Employment Training (PET).

 

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