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Submitter's Information
Mary Crocker Cook
ADS Program Coordinator
Bay Area
San Jose City College
CTE Dean
Dean Maristella Tapia
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Program Details
B.S in Alcohol and Drug Studies
New Program
Alcohol and Controlled Substances (210440)
08/24/26
San Jose City College has offered an Associate in Arts (AA) degree in Alcohol and Drug Studies, since 1990, and is now offering both alumni and current students an opportunity to complete their studies to earn a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Alcohol and Drug Studies. This level of academic achievement makes them eligible to succeed in leadership and program management roles in the substance use field throughout their career. In addition, they will be prepared for advanced certification for the California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals (CCAPP) Certified Alcohol Drug Counselor III (CADC-III); CATC III through CAADE’s Addiction Counselor Certification Board of California (ACCBC); SUDCC III through the California Association of DUI Treatment Programs (CADTP) . Addition of this level of education allows addictions studies students to participate in the full CCAPP career ladder based on their career goals and education aptitude: Peer counselor, CADC1-11, CADCIII, and LAADC. All upper division AS courses will be through a 30 person cohort.
Bachelors in Addiction Studies Requirements
- Submit transcript of AA/AS in Alcohol and Drug Studies, Addictions Studies, or equivalent from a California Community College (CCC). CADC certification is not required, though completion of AA/AS with addictions study coursework as the major will be required.
- Submit application to take the BS in Addiction Studies provided by the HHSA Department.
- Lower division courses in the major have been completed with a grade of "C" or better. A "P" (Pass) grade is an acceptable grade for courses in the major if the course is taken on a "Pass/No Pass" basis. If the “P” grade was earned at another institution, it must be defined as being equivalent to a “C” or better in the institution’s policy;
- Complete a minimum of 51 semester units in a major or area of emphasis (see specific degree requirements);
- Earn a minimum cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.0 in degree applicable coursework;
The BS in Alcohol and Drug Studies will enroll a 30 person cohort every fall, which means we will graduate a 30 person cohort every two years.
Program Proposal Attributes
- Baccalaureate of Science (B.S.) Degree
The goal of the B.S. in Alcohol and Drug Studies is to provide a level of academic preparation to increase student eligibility to succeed in leadership and program management roles in the substance use field throughout their career. As the substance use disorder treatment workforce ages, the treatment community leadership has increasingly communicated with San Jose City College to support the development of Program Managers, Administrators, Program Developers, Outreach Managers, and Program Leads which leads to increase in wages as well as responsibility.
In addition, they will be prepared for advanced certification for the California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals (CCAPP) Certified Alcohol Drug Counselor III (CADC-III); CATC III through CAADE’s Addiction Counselor Certification Board of California (ACCBC); SUDCC III through the California Association of DUI Treatment Programs (CADTP) . The addition of this level of education allows addictions studies students to participate in the full CCAPP career ladder based on their career goals and educational aptitude: Peer counselor, CADC1-11, CADCIII, and LAADC.
Course Units and Hours
n/a
51
120
Course Report
B.S. Alcohol and Drug Studies Narrative
San Jose City College has offered both an Associate in Arts (AA) degree in Alcohol and Drug Studies and Certificate of Achievement – Level 3, since 1990, and is now offering both alumni and current students an opportunity to complete their studies to earn a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Alcohol and Drug Studies. This level of academic achievement makes them eligible to succeed in leadership and program management roles in the substance use field throughout their career, a level of professional training that had not been available prior to this program.
The Baccalaureate in Alcohol and Drug Studies supports the mission of San Jose City College to create strong workforce participation for previously marginalized members of the community. As a result of the BS Alcohol and Drug Studies educational training, people in long-term recovery currently working in the addiction treatment field will have the opportunity to move onto leadership positions that are being vacated by the aging workforce in the substance-use treatment community. Developed from a true community-college partnership, the BS in Alcohol and Drug Studies well fulfills the mission of San Jose City College to provide student-centered and culturally responsive curriculum and services for career pathways, university transfer, and life-long learning.
Course Requirements and sequencing
Enrollment and Completer Projection:
We will have 30 graduates per year
Master Planning Relationship to College
The B.S. in Alcohol and Drug Studies supports the mission of San Jose City College to create strong workforce participation for previously marginalized members of the community. As a result of the Alcohol and Drug Studies programs recovering people, rehabilitated people, and family members affected by the disease of addiction have an opportunity to draw from their life history and affect real and meaningful change in the community.
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ADS Bachelor Program Proposed Schedule with and units 30 students cohorts, 8-week short course format. Year 1
Year 2
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Supporting Documents
Bay Area Regional Questions
CTE
The SJCC Alcohol and Drug Studies program is both CET and Academic transfer. We offer both the Alcohol and Drug Studies program along with several specialty certificates to develop a more specialized work force at the request of our community partners.
The ADS program was developed in 1990 to prepare future substance abuse counselors by offering the 315 hours of California Consortium of Addiction Professionals and Programs (CCAPP) education in preparation for the state examination. The program is also accredited to meet the California Association of Alcohol and Drug Educators (CAADE) certification requirements, consisting of three additional courses.
The ADS program consists of three certifications tracks:
The 69-unit A.A. in Alcohol and Drug Studies /the 36-unit A.S. in Alcohol and Drug Studies/ the 27-unit Certificate of Achievement in Alcohol and Drug Studies:
The A.A. and Certification of Achievement provide the academic preparation for both state certification and transfer to a state university to pursue social science, social work, psychology, or behavioral health.
The ADS program is made up of seven core curriculum courses (ADS 70-79) and two semesters of Supervised Practicum which includes 215 hours placement in a treatment program and 3 hours of class each week. There are two certificate levels and two associate degree levels of achievement in the ADS program.
We offer additional certifications: Peer Counselor Certification – 80-hour requirement for Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist Certification; Addiction and Criminal Justice Certificate; and Integrated Behavioral Health certificate. Our desire is to offer the full career ladder from Peer to Baccalaureate.
While we may have 374 students enrolled over the academic year, we graduate approximately 20-25 certificate students a year. They then stay on while working as substance use counselors and continue to complete their associates degree. So, there may be 6 AA/AS students completing for the academic year, and many more in process.
Most of our students are 25-50 years old with families and are working. This is a stackable process, as in Vision 2030. The pathway from the AA to the BS as a cohort model. particularly in an 8-week course sequence, will increase the ability for our students to complete in the two-year time frame as they can attend class two nights a week instead of four nights a week. The stackable process is outlined below:
Alcohol and Drug Certificate - Level 3
Requirements:
Alcohol and Drug Certificate Courses Credit Hours: (41 Required) | ||
ADS070 | Introduction to Chemical Dependency | 3 |
ADS071 | Pharmacology/Physiology of Addiction | 3 |
ADS072 | Codependency & Family Dynamics | 3 |
ADS073 | Case Management | 3 |
ADS074 | Ethics, and Personal and Professional Growth | 3 |
ADS075A | Counseling Theories and Skills | 3 |
ADS076 | Law and Prevention: Community Response | 3 |
ADS079 | Group Dynamics | 3 |
ADS077A | Supervised Practicum A | 2 |
ADS077B | Supervised Practicum B | 2 |
ADS078 | Integrated Behavioral Health | 3 |
ADS138 | Work Experience | 4 |
PSYCC1000 | Introduction to Psychology | 3 |
SOC010 | Introduction to Sociology | 3 |
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Total: 41 | ||
Upon completion of the Alcohol and Drug Studies AA degree or Alcohol and Drug Studies Certificate of Achievement-Level 3, students become RADT I Interns. RADT I Interns are required to document and complete 3,000 hours or 2 years of full-time supervised work experience as a drug and alcohol abuse counselor in order to qualify to take the California Consortium of Addiction Professionals and Programs (CCAPP) written examination. Once this CCAPP exam is passed, students are awarded the certification: Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor I (CADCI). Intern hours, and 3,000
Associates of Arts Alcohol and Drug Studies
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Proposed Sequence:
The majority of the students who enter the BS in Alcohol and Drug Studies will have at least 255 hours of experience working the field gained from the Practicum A and B Internship, and many will be well into the 3000 hours of experience. This will bring a host of workplace observations and reflections gained on the job versus just in theory as a foundation to moving toward the next level of leadership and management education offered through the BS program. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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BS Alcohol and Drug Studies
Cohort Structure:
The CCC Chancellor’s office has identified cohorts as a best practice for Baccalaureate programs. The 30-person cohort is based the fact that the ADS program graduates approximately 25 students per year with an AA degree. ADS students are working adults who range in age between 25-50. They begin their careers in adulthood, often gathering “lived experience” with addiction prior to making a decision to enter the addiction counseling field. In addition to our current student base, we have at least 50 identified alumni who have asked to take these courses. Students admitted to the program will have already completed their associate’s degree in ADS prior to acceptance into our Baccalaureate program. They will most likely be full-time employees, with families, and the program structure (short courses, weekend and online formats, smaller cohort size) is intended to allow the program to be manageable and support student success and completion.
Our ADS AA (undergraduate program) will act as a feeder or pipeline to the Baccalaureate program. The ADS program has taken the position over the last 35 years to graduate at a level the addiction treatment market can absorb to provide the best opportunity to all students who graduate to go directly into employment. The majority of students do graduate and are employed, though we always have a few that continue their ADS classes towards their degree or transfer to a 4-year college directly for a clinical degree. This strategy has contributed to the health of the ADS program, because when times are lean, we can still place in students in internships and students can gain employment. When the need is higher, students are often hired prior to graduation. Currently, the need for Alcohol and Drug counselors is higher, and there has been an urgency from our community partner to increase the number of trained counselors to develop the skills to assume more management responsibilities. For this reason, the time is right for a Baccalaureate program in Alcohol and Drug Studies.
ADS | 400 | Addiction Program Management | 3 |
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ADS | 403 | Documentation in Addictions Treatment | 3 |
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ADS | 406 | Evidence Based Addiction Treatment Interventions | 3 |
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ADS | 407 | History of Addiction Treatment Service Delivery | 3 |
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ADS | 413 | Organizational Behavior in Addiction Treatment | 3 |
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ADS | 418 | Ethics in Addiction Program Management | 3 |
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ADS | 421 | Narratives of Addiction: Popular Culture Through Critical and Theoretical Lens | 3 |
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| 449 | Race, Class and the Environment (GE) | 3 | UD GE |
ENGL | 449 | Impact of Addiction Through Literature (GE) | 3 | UD GE |
SOC | 449 | Drugs and Society: Sociological Perspectives (GE) | 3 | UD GE |
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| Senior (4th year) |
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ADS | 450 | Community-Based Organization (CBO) Development to Response to Addiction | 3 |
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ADS | 452 | Co-occurring Disorders and Complex Trauma | 3 |
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ADS | 453 | Attachment Infused Addiction Treatment | 2 |
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ADS | 459 | Advocacy and Systems Change through Community Activism, Policy and Legislature | 3 |
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ADS | 460 | Writing Skills for Addiction Professional Management (GE) | 4 |
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ADS | 465 | Effective Supervision of Recovering Counseling Staff | 3 |
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ADS | 466 | Counselor Wellness as an Ethical Practice | 3 |
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| UD - MR | Upper Division - Major Requirements - Total Units: | 42 |
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| UD - GE | Upper Division GE - Total Units: | 9 |
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Junior | Senior |
| 51 |
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| TOTAL | UNITS | 120 |
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| *Indicates Course Needs to Be Added to the AA Degree |
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According to the 2017- 2030 Health Resources and Services Administration’s behavioral health workforce projections, growth in demand for addiction counselors is expected to outpace growth in supply by 14%, creating a deficit in addiction counselors.
An Overview of SOC 21-1011.00 Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors provides broad stroke information about the Substance Abuse field.
In California:
Employment data for Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors.
57,400 employees
| Employment (2022)
| 22% | Projected growth (2022-2032)
|
70,200 employees
| Projected employment (2032)
| 6,520
| Projected annual job openings (2022-2032)
|
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024 wage data
In California:
Wage data for Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors.
Workers on average earn $29.48 per hour.
10% of workers earn $21.25 or less per hour.
10% of workers earn $57.20 or more per hour.
According to the 2017- 2030 Health Resources and Services Administration’s behavioral health workforce projections, growth in demand for addiction counselors is expected to outpace growth in supply by 14%, creating a deficit in addiction counselors
Source: CCAPP SUD Workforce Report 2022 www.ccapp.us
In addition, we worked with Elisa Koff-Ginsborg, Executive Director of the Behavioral Health Contractors Association who had partnered with the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to sponsor the Santa Clara Workforce Study Advisory Report.
According to findings of the Santa Clara Behavioral Health Workforce Report by Healthforce Center at UCSF March 2025:
BHSD estimates that the overall rate of productivity in its mental health and SUD networks was 28 percent in 2024, where productivity is defined as billed services divided by hours worked, assuming that providers work 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year.
To support the sustainability of our public behavioral health service delivery system and network, scenarios were generated to estimate the impact of increasing productivity by 10 percent or 20 percent. Under a 10 percent increase, productivity would rise from 28 percent to 30.8 percent; under a 20 percent increase, productivity would rise from 28 percent to 33.6 percent.
If the configuration of providers in the SUD network remains the same, the number of clients grows by 20 percent, and capacity expands to serve 25 percent of Medi-Cal beneficiaries who need SUD services, (See Table 11.) BHSD will need 101 more SUD providers in 2030. As with the mental health projections, the largest increases would be among the types of providers that constitute the largest numbers of SUD providers at present (master’s level clinicians and SUD counselors.) The actual numbers of providers of each type that BHSD will need in the future may differ if the current SUD network has insufficient numbers of some types of providers. The difference in the magnitude of the projected increases in the numbers of mental health and SUD providers needed (8.5 percent versus 112 percent) is due to the assumption that the capacity of the SUD network should expand to provide services to 25 percent of Medi-Cal beneficiaries with SUD (up from 14 percent in 2024).
We also reached out to our community partners, including every addiction counselor-hiring agency in the county, both county-contracted and private for input and the commitment to supporting the increased professional development opportunity. They have indicated increased pay rates that will result from increased education at the baccalaureate level and advantages to their programs that will come from counselors with increased clinical skills and education. The focus on the BS program is to grow the leadership level of the Addiction Treatment system.
We received the following letters of support:
Letters for support for the Baccalaureate in Alcohol and Drug Studies which include:
o Advisory Board Minutes of BS Approval
o CCAPP Accreditation Board o California Association of Alcohol and Drug Professional Executives
o Behavioral Health Contractor Association o Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Department
o Office of the Sherriff – Programs Unit
o Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg
Agency letters that express a commitment to increase the salaries of B.S. Alcohol and Drug Studies Graduates that they currently employ. These include the following agencies:
o Pathway Society
o Caminar
o Gardner Health Services
o HealthRight 360
o Momentum for Health – Parisis House on the Hill
o Silicon Valley Recovery Center
o The Camp Recovery Center
o New Life Recovery
Approval to move forward from San Jose State University School of Social Work
(Please see letter of support attached)
Approval to move forward from UC Santa Cruz School of Social Sciences
(Please see letter of support attached)
COE, CSU and UC Program Finder Tool
The search using the COE, CSU, and UC Program Finder Tool for programs under CIP Code 51.1501 Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling returned no results. This indicates that no programs with this specific CIP Code are currently available within these systems.
Search Degrees at the CSU The search for degrees at the CSU system using the program title "Substance Use Counseling" returned no results. This indicates that no programs with this specific title are currently offered within the CSU system.
CSU Majors by CIP Code The search for CSU majors 51.1501 Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling returned no results, indicating that no programs aligned with this CIP Code are currently offered within the CSU system.
CSU Degrees and CIP Codes Report the CSU Degree and CIP Codes Report search for CIP Code 51.1501 Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling returned no results, indicating that no degrees within the CSU system are currently aligned with this specific CIP Code.
Guidance Search for CSU Programs
A comprehensive search using the CSU Degree Search Portal and the CSU Degree Code-CIP Code Crosswalk, as outlined in the guidance document California State University, for programs titled "Substance Use Counseling" or associated with CIP Code 51.1501 Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling yielded no results. This indicates that the California State University system currently does not offer programs under this specific title or CIP code.
CIP SOC Crosswalk The CIP-SOC crosswalk indicates a match between CIP Code 51.1501 Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling and 21-1018 Substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors. broad design: The Bachelor of Science in Human Services offers undergraduate preparation for study and careers in mental health and counseling, social work, community organization and planning, policy analysis, administration of human services agencies, gerontology, and elementary school teaching.
The Addiction specialty units include:
These courses do not meet the requirements for substance use counseling certification, and do not meet the stated requirements of CIP code 51.1501 and therefore are not designed to move students through the state CCAPP career ladder or specifically to work in an addiction treatment setting. CIP Codes and SOC Codes.
Submission Details
11/17/25 - 05:03 PM
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