What's Changing?
COPA oversees the Colorado Peer Recovery credential (CPFS), which follows standards set by the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (ICRC).
ICRC sets the minimum requirements for this credential. They have updated their standards to require 6 hours of Harm Reduction training.
To stay in line with the ICRC standards, Colorado will also update the CPFS requirements.
Beginning January 1, 2027, anyone applying for the CPFS credential will need to complete 6 hours of Harm Reduction training.
Adding these new training hours will change the number of hours required in each domain. However, the total requirement of 60 training hours for the CPFS credential will stay the same:
8 hours in Advocacy (updated)
16 hours in Ethical Responsibility
8 hours in Mentoring/Education (updated)
8 hours in Recovery/Wellness Support (updated)
6 hours in Harm Reduction (new)
14 hours Additional Training
Current Standard
The final deadline for CPFS applications to be completed and ready for Committee review under the current standards is December 11, 2026, at 5:00 PM (MT).
Upon Committee review on December 21, 2026, any applications that have revisions requested by the Committee must be completed and approved by December 28th, 2026, at 5:00 PM (MT). If not completed by this deadline, your application will be updated on January 1, 2027.
New Standard
All applications not completed and ready for review by December 11, 2026 at 5:00 PM (MT) will be moved to the new standard.
If your application is moved to the new version, your progress on the old version will not transfer and you will need to re-complete all application steps in the new version, including:
- Re-uploading all files, including proof of high school completion and training certificates of completion
- Uploading payment receipts (found in the Digital Wallet of your Certemy account) to the Registration and Application Fee steps
- Inviting supervisors to complete the updated Experience/Supervised Experience forms
If your application is not ready for review by December 11, 2026 we encourage you to download and store all files and information you have uploaded so far in your current application.
Exclusions
The following groups will be EXCLUDED from being updated to the new version of the application:
– Initial CPFS applications that are only waiting on completion of the exam step by December 28, 2026
– Recertifications
Where Can I Find Harm Reduction Trainings?
We promote training for the CPFS credential on the CPFS Approved Training List.
When you open the Approved Training List, you will see sections along the bottom and arrows to navigate through all of the sections. There is a section specific to recommended training for Harm Reduction. You are not limited to training on this list.
The CPFS Committee will allow small and online-self paced training formats to complete this requirement. The training format requirements for this new domain will be reevaluated in January 2028.
- This does not change the live, large core training format requirements for the other core domains: Advocacy, Ethics, Mentoring & Education, and Recovery & Wellness.