Standards of Practice for California Community College Counseling Programs

This paper asserts that there should be a set of universal standards of practice for all community college counseling programs, regardless of institutional or departmental size or fiscal constraints. Complying with these standards requires both adequate staffing and support. These standards are set out in six areas: A. Core Functions, B. Ethical Standards, C. Organization and Administration, D. Human Resources, E. Physical Facilities, and F. New Technologies. These standards have been developed by counseling and other faculty through review of current practice, policy, and legislation; study of national standards for the counseling discipline; and projection of needs for future practice. They are designed to be specific enough to be meaningful, yet general enough to allow flexibility in meeting local needs and constraints. They are intended to be used in the design, development, and review of counseling department policies and practices.