I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION and PURPOSE

A. Purpose

The purpose of the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences Board of Residency Education (ANCDS BRE) is to accredit clinical training programs offering a program of study geared towards developing advanced knowledge and skills in neurologic communication disorders.

B. Residency Program Length

1. Full-time option: Requires a minimum of 1,100 hours in no fewer than 9 months and no more than 12 months.
2. Part-time option: Requires a minimum of 1,100 hours, must be at least 50% of a full-time equivalent at the practice site, and must be completed within 24 months. 

C. Eligibility

1. Resident: A resident must have obtained a master’s degree in speech-language pathology (minimum) as the entry level degree to practice in the program.
2. Residency Program: A residency program accredited by the ANCDS BRE may be hosted by settings that provide services to people with neurologic communication disorders, including, but not limited to:
   • Hospital systems
   • Free-standing rehabilitation settings
   • Outpatient rehabilitation settings
   • Private practice settings.

II. OVERVIEW OF RESIDENCY PROGRAM STANDARDS

The standards of the ANCDS BRE program address the following components.

A. Standard I - Mission, Goals, and Outcomes. The residency program will develop a mission statement, goals to support achieving the mission, and outcome measures that demonstrate the success of the residency program. 

B. Standard II - Curriculum. The residency program will include didactic education in neurogenic communication disorders.  The resident will complete a minimum of 750 hours of mentored, direct speech-language pathology services and present at least one case study following guidelines for ANCDS Board Certification.

C. Standard III - Program Administration: The residency program will have and implement policies and procedures to ensure ongoing success of the program. 

D. Standard IV – Program Resources: The residency program will demonstrate that it has the human, physical, and fiscal resources needed to achieve the program’s goals.

E. Standard V - Program Evaluation: The residency program will have and implement a program evaluation plan that includes competency-based evaluation of skills and content knowledge of the resident, as well as evaluation of the effectiveness of the site in meeting its mission and goals.

III. APPLICATION PROCESS

A. Applicant Residency Program Status

1. The Intent to Apply for Residency Accreditation (IARA) form must be submitted to the ANCDS Business Office by July 1^st.
2. The Business Office will send an invoice for the $150 nonrefundable IARA fee, payable by the site within 30 days of receipt.
3. The Business Office will review the IARA and notify the site of approval to submit an Application for Residency Education Accreditation within 14 days of receipt of payment.
4. When the IARA is approved, the applicant site will be given access to a confidential, password protected, online portal containing the Application for Residency Accreditation. An applicant site must use this portal to submit the completed Application for Residency Education Accreditation. 
5. The completed Application for Residency Accreditation is due by November 1^st of the same calendar year.
6. Upon receipt of the Application for Residency Accreditation, the Business Office will send an invoice for the Application for Residency Accreditation fee, payable by the site within 30 days of receipt.

B. Candidate Residency Program Status and Site Visit

1. If, after review of the Application for Residency Accreditation, all BRE program standards are met, a program will be granted Candidate status and will be notified to this effect by January 10^th of the next calendar year.
2. Once Candidate status is granted, a residency program may begin recruiting a resident(s).
3. Within one (1) week of the hiring decision for a resident, the Candidate program will inform the BRE and provide the resident‘s name and start date. If a potential resident was identified prior to a program being granted Candidate status, the program is to inform the BRE of the resident’s name and start date within one (1) week of receiving notice of Candidate status.
4. An in-person site visit will be scheduled between one (1) and six (6) months after the first resident enters the residency program.
5. A Site Visit Team will be appointed for the Candidate site, including a Site Visit Team Lead, who will contact the Candidate site to schedule the site visit and discuss team requirements for the site visit.
6. Within six (6) weeks after the site visit, the Site Visit Team will submit a report with recommendations to ANCDS BRE.
7. Within one (1) week of receiving the Site Visit Team report, the Business Office will send the program a copy of the report accompanied by a letter offering the program the option of submitting additional information. 
8. After receiving the Site Visit Team report the program has the option to submit additional information. Within two (2) days of receipt of the Site Visit Team report the program must notify the Business Office whether it will submit additional information. Within two (2) weeks of receipt of the Site Visit Team report the optional response must be submitted. 
9. Within 4 weeks after receipt of the Site Visit Team report, or 2 weeks after receipt of the optional response from the program, the BRE will determine the outcome of its review of the Application for BRE Accreditation. The BRE will: (1) grant accreditation, (2) deny accreditation, or (3) request additional information.

C. ANCDS BRE Accredited Residency Program

1. Initial accreditation will be granted for a period of 5 years. Subsequent accreditation periods may be granted for up to 10 years. a.Reaccreditation requires submission of a Reapplication for ANCDS BRE accreditation and a site visit.
2. By January 5^th of each year in the accreditation cycle, accredited residency programs are required to submit an Annual Update to the ACNDS BRE Business Office.
3. Following receipt of the Annual Update, the ANCDS BRE Business Office will send an invoice for the annual accreditation maintenance fee, payable within 30 days of receipt.
4. ANCDS BRE may terminate any residency program for noncompliance with the ANCDS BRE Standards.

IV. FEES

A. Fees associated with ANCDS BRE are listed on the ANCDS website (www.ancds.org) under the ANCDS BRE tab. Fees will be invoiced by the ANCDS Business Office and all fees are nonrefundable.

B. Fees accompany the following BRE components:

1. Intent to Apply for Residency Accreditation 
2. Application for BRE Accreditation (initial application) 
3. Annual Maintenance of BRE Accreditation 
4. Application for BRE Reaccreditation
5. Site visit (Accreditation and Reaccreditation)

C. Unless otherwise specified, all fees are to be submitted using the secure portal within 30 days of receipt of invoice from the Business Office. All fees are nonrefundable.

D. Annual fees begin in the calendar year after accreditation is granted.

E. No annual fee is required in the year a site applies for reaccreditation.

F. The Application for Residency Reaccreditation fee does not include the reaccreditation site visit fee.

V. ANCDS BOARD CERTIFICATION

A. Residency program staff with ANCDS Board Certification

1. Residency programs must have at least one staff member who holds BC-ANCDS.  If a residency program does not have a staff member with BC-ANCDS, the residency program must demonstrate that at least one staff member has significant expertise in the area of neurologic communication disorders.
2. If the residency program does not have a staff member with BC-ANCDS, the program has 5 years to hire a staff member with BC-ANCDS or demonstrate that an existing staff member has attained BC-ANCDS.