Study that explores the impact and perceptions of the HS-BCP credential.

1. Dr. Narketta M. Sparkman, HS-BCP
Dr. Edward S. Neukrug, LPC; HS-BCP

2.  Established in 2008
 Joint effort between the National Organization for
Human Services (NOHS), the Council for
Standards in Human Service Education (CSHSE),
and the Center for Credentialing and Education
(CCE)
 Solidify professional identity
 Developed an increased professional look for
human service professionals
 Increased the status of the human service
professional as compared to related mental
health professionals
 the goal [of credentialing] was to create a
certification program that would provide quality,
value, and integrity for practitioners, their
employers, and consumers of human services

3. determine how familiar members of NOHS were
with the HS-BCP credential;
approximate the percentage of members who had
attained the credential;
examine demographics of those who are most
likely to attain membership;
understand the importance that holding a
credential has to members;
determine whether non-credentialed members
were planning on becoming credentialed;
discover any benefits seen by those who already
had the credential.

5.  Quantitative
Descriptive and chi square
 Survey Methods
 Survey Monkey
 Email Solicitations (3 intervals)
 Human Subjects Review
 Informed Consent

7.  16 item questionnaire
Knowledge of the credential
Intent to obtain
Employer knowledge
Perception of further education about HS-BCP
Value of the credential
 10 demographic questions
Age, ethnicity, highest degree, field of study and
primary and secondary identification
 Question were created based off review of
literature
 Pilot tested w/ 6 human service faculty
 Revised based off feedback

9.  NOHS Membership
 241 Respondents
 Mean age 49.35
 56% Caucasian; 33% African American; 2.5%
Latino; 2.1 Native American; 1Asian; 6.2%
identified as other
 38.59% Masters; 28.10% Doctorate; 16.59%
Associate; 12.4% Bachelor; 4.58% High School
Diploma
 43.98% highest degree in Human Services;
15.35% other; 12.03% Psychology; 8.29% Social
Work; 7.50% counseling; 2.90% education; 2.41%
marriage and family; 5.8% did not major in field

10.  Primary affiliation: 38.59% Faculty; 24.90%
Students; 23.24% Practitioners; 10.79% Other;
3.49% were unemployed
 Secondary affiliation: 34.7% Practitioners;
29.63% others; 19.91% Students; 8.33%
faculty and 7.41% unemployed; 5.47% no
response

12.  90.04% heard of the credential
 42.32% obtained the HS-BCP
 55.39% planned on obtaining it
 28.06% were not sure if they would obtain it
 12.23% did not plan on obtaining the
credential
 7 did not respond
 Approx. 50% stated their employer was aware
of the credential
 Approx. 90% stated there was a need for
further education on the HS-BCP

13.  34.62% of 102 who have the HS-BCP
indicated it has not added value or will not
add value to current position
 30% indicated it had or will somewhat add
value
 24.04% indicated it will had a moderate
amount of value
 10.58% indicated it would very much add
value

14.  One half of those who obtained the credential
indicated that it has done nothing for them
 19.6% indicated the credential had led to an
increase in status
 5.82% stated it allowed them to apply for a job
they would not have been able to apply to
 5.82% indicated the credential led to a promotion
 3.92% stated it allow them to apply for a
promotion
 Result were about 50/50 in determining value of
credential by colleagues and employers.
 63% disagree with the value of HS-BCP credential
being equal to the value of other credentials

15.  94% of respondents were familiar with the
NOHS ethical code
 81.3% were familiar with the HS-BCP ethical
code
 The majority of respondents believed the
NOHS ethical code (78.06%) and the HS-BCP
ethical code (66.37%) governed their
profession

16.  Respondents age 61-70 showed the highest
percentage of those credentialed 72.50%
 No significant difference found between Caucasian
and African American participants
 Findings indicated the higher the degree attainment
the increased percentage in HS-BCP credentialing.
 Practitioners and Faculty were among the highest
those credentialed.
 Those that indicated increase in status based off
credential attainment 11 were practitioners and 7
were faculty
 Faculty were amongst the highest to indicate the
credential has done nothing for them.

17.  Difficulty in interpretation survey research
 Educated guesses to reason results
 NOHS does not keep demographics on
members
 Respondents may not be reflective of NOHS
members
 Inability to generalize to larger human service
population
 Some contradictory results

18.  Awareness of the credential is evident in the
217 out 241 participants
 Those over 60 may have saw themselves as
instrumental in establishing the field
 Individuals with masters or doctorate may
have a higher value of the credential due to a
longer and deeper commitment to the field
 Strong interest in becoming credentialed
 Over half indicated employers were aware of
the credential which indicates clear awareness
in NOHS community

19.  Desire to continue spreading knowledge of the
credential
 Clear representation that the credential is
important to the profession
 Close to half indicated their employers were not
aware of the credential which is indicates there is
work to be done in employer by in
 30% indicated the credential has not and will not
add value to their current position indicates there
is work to be done in building value
 50% indicated the credential is not as valuable as
other credentials
 Two different ethical codes are seen as governing
the field.

20.  Advertising campaign to publicize the
credential with human service agencies
 Advocate for lobbying efforts with state
legislators to build knowledge and respect for
the credential
 Increase visibility of the credential among
practitioners outside of NOHS
 Possible working agreement on how the two
ethical codes can be used together for ethical
decision making

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