Q and A Renewal
Q. What are the EI credential renewal requirements?
A. The renewal requirements are listed below.
Thirty EI approved continuing professional education hours. Five of those hours may include EI approved videos from the EI Clearinghouse. The 30 hours must be taken in at least two Core Knowledge Areas.
Seventy-five percent of Ongoing Professional Development Meeting must be documented.
Completion of Child Abuse and Neglect Tracking System (CANTS) and Sex Offender Registry background checks.
Q. Is there a cap on how many hours of training can be acquired through Online courses, Face to Face trainings or video through the Clearinghouse to fulfill renewal requirements
A. The only cap is for video training. Up to 5 hours of video training can be used for every 30 hours of training submitted.
Q. When should I submit my renewal application?
A. Please submit the entire application 60 days before the expiration date. Allow 4 weeks for processing the DCFS CANTS (unless there are mitigating circumstances determined by DCFS). If you do not have all your continuing education hours completed by that time, submit as what continuing education, Ongoing Professional Development Documentation Forms, the application, and CANTS. The remaining continuing education may be submitted as it is completed.
Q. How do I know if my trainings are approved for EI credit?
A. Please check your training certificates with the EI Training Program’s website. Pull up the training you attended, making sure it is for the same date. Check to see how many hours and what areas of credit were awarded for the training. Many trainings are awarded partial credit because the scope of the training is not solely on birth to three.
Q. I have a hand-written certificate. Is this valid?
A. Provider Connections requires that all certificates submitted for initial credentialing or for renewal purposes include computer-generated/type-written names on them for training taken after 2012. Items submitted with handwritten names will not be accepted and could cause your application to be delayed in processing. If you have been issued a certificate with a space to write your name, please contact the sponsoring organization and request that they return a certificate with your name pre-printed on it. This policy does not apply to trainings designated as conferences on the certificate.
Q. I received a Full-Monitored credential. What does that mean?
A. A Full-Monitored credential is issued the Ongoing Professional Development Plan (OPDP) Requirements were not fulfilled. Seventy-five percent of the meetings are required. To receive the Full-Monitored credential, providers submitted a plan stating this requirement will be met over the next year. One month prior to the end of the monitored status, you must submit documentation (mail or fax is acceptable) of completion of OPDP meetings using the Ongoing Professional Documentation Form must be submitted. If the documentation demonstrates compliance, the monitored status will be withdrawn and the credential will be issued for the remaining two years.
If documentation of the required meetings are not received by Provider Connections by the expiration date, the credential will be inactivated and cannot be reactivated for 12 months from the above expiration date.