TPC Journal-V6, Issue 4- FULL ISSUE

The Professional Counselor /Volume 6, Issue 4 379 required CBCs as part of admission to their program. Participants who responded in the affirmative then responded to six multiple choice items related to which specialty tracks required a CBC, type of CBC, who performs and pays for the CBC, how applicants are notified that the CBC is required, and whether the programs have established procedures for deciding non-admission based upon the results of the CBC. Further, two qualitative questions provided an opportunity to learn how CBC information is obtained and used. Next, participants were asked to identify if their programs required CBCs of current students. Participants who responded in the affirmative then responded to seven multiple choice items related to which specialty tracks required the CBC, type of CBC, who performs and pays for the CBC, how applicants are notified that a CBC is required, at what time in the program CBCs are performed, and whether the programs have established procedures based upon the results of the CBC. Further, two qualitative questions requested information about how CBC information is used and protocols for removal of students. The final part of the survey consisted of 11 questions regarding ethical and legal issues (i.e., CBC required for certification, licensure, or employment as a professional counselor, privacy issues, client welfare, legal consequences of performing CBC, CACREP-standards, potential for screening out minority applicants and students). This section contained five multiple choice questions and six questions based on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). To establish content validity and reliability, a pilot study of the survey was completed. The pilot study included two former CACREP-accredited program contacts who were asked to look for clarity and conciseness of the survey questions and provide feedback and suggestions for improvement. Based upon the responses of the pilot participants, the survey was edited to provide a more conducive and efficient design. Data Analysis The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software (version 21) was utilized to screen and analyze the data. The participants’ responses to the survey questions were subjected to both descriptive and correlational analyses. First, a descriptive analysis of multiple choice responses was conducted to produce a set of summary statistics related to each of the seven research questions. Next, a Fisher’s Exact Test (a variant of a chi-square test for independence for small sample sizes) with an alpha level of .05 was used to determine if there was an association between the region of the country where participants’ programs were located and whether CBCs are required for applicants or current students. Results Applicants and Criminal Background Checks Regarding the first research question, of the 83 participants, 27.7% ( n = 23) reported that their programs required applicants to undertake CBCs. Table 1 provides a breakdown of the specialty track that program contacts specified as requiring applicants to undergo CBCs. The Fisher’s Exact Test to determine an association between location of program and requiring applicants to have a CBC was found to be not significant ( p = .426).