Answers to your Frequently Asked Questions
Questions About LEAARC Evaluation
What kinds of evaluation does LEAARC provide?
LEAARC recognition indicates that programs meet or exceed minimum criteria through a formal, non-governmental, peer-review process of voluntary self-evaluation. All courses and programs reviewed by LEAARC meet their stated criteria/standards and comply with the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent World Health Assembly regulations. LEAARC evaluates education at three levels:
- Recommendation of academic lactation programs for CAAHEP accreditation
- Approval of lactation courses and clinical internship programs
- Recognition of breastfeeding courses and clinical interns
What is required for a program to become accredited?
LEAARC serves as a review committee for The Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). CAAHEP accredited programs are taught through accredited post-secondary academic institutions. Programs seeking accreditation submit their application to LEAARC. LEAARC reviews the program, conducts a site visit, and submits a recommendation on accreditation to CAAHEP. See Questions About Accreditation and CAAHEP for more information about the process for accreditation. A CAAHEP accredited lactation program:
- Provides all requirements for students who wish to enter the Lactation Consultant profession through the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners® (IBLCE®).
- Qualifies graduates to register for the IBLCE examination through Pathway 2.
- Is taught by qualified faculty, with primary lactation faculty IBCLC certified.
What is required for approval of a lactation course?
LEAARC Approved programs are taught by independent educators and contribute in part to the preparation of students who wish to enter the Lactation Consultant profession. Course providers complete an application detailing course goals and outcomes; resources; faculty information; curriculum; business practices; resource assessment; and student assessment.
LEAARC approval assures students that the course:
- Provides 90 hours of didactic instruction in lactation management which provides the didactic instruction required for certification as an International Board Lactation Consultant® (IBCLC®).
- Covers the topics identified in the IBLCE Detailed Content Outline and the competencies in the LEAARC curriculum.
- Is taught by qualified faculty, with primary lactation faculty IBCLC certified.
What is required for recognition of a breastfeeding course?
Breastfeeding courses recognized by LEAARC contribute to the preparation of breastfeeding counselors and educators. Course providers complete an application detailing course goals and outcomes; resources; faculty information; curriculum; business practices; resource assessment; and student assessment.
LEAARC recognition assures students that the course:
- Provides a minimum of 40 contact hours and teaches how to assist families in the normal course of breastfeeding, through providing support and education.
- Covers some of the topics identified in the IBLCE Detailed Content Outline and some of the competencies in the LEAARC curriculum.
- Is taught by qualified faculty, with primary lactation faculty IBCLC certified.
What is required for approval of a clinical internship program?
LEAARC launched recognition of clinical internships in 2018. Internships approved by LEAARC have been in operation for a minimum of one year and have graduated at least one intern. The program offers a minimum of 500 clinical instruction hours and has a method to assess intern progress toward achievement of competencies. Program faculty are IBCLC certified and comply with the Code of Professional Conduct for IBCLCs.
What is required for recognition of a clinical instructor?
Clinical mentors recognized by LEAARC have been in operation for a minimum of one year and have completed mentorship of at least one intern. The mentor provides a minimum of 100 hours of supervised clinical experience for students seeking to become International Board Certified Lactation Consultants®. The mentor has a method to assess intern progress toward achievement of competencies. The mentor is IBCLC certified and complies with the Code of Professional Conduct for IBCLCs.
How do I apply for recognition or approval of my course?
Courses seeking approval or recognition may contact office@leaarc.org to request an application for the relevant program.
Questions About Accreditation and CAAHEP
What is accreditation ... and why is it important?
Accreditation is an effort to assess the quality of institutions, programs and services, measuring them against agreed-upon standards and thereby assuring that they meet those standards. In the case of post-secondary education, there are two kinds of accreditation.
Institutional accreditation helps to assure potential students that a school is a sound institution and has met certain minimum standards in terms of administration, resources, faculty and facilities.
Programmatic (or specialized) accreditation examines specific schools or programs within an educational institution (e.g., the law school, the medical school, the nursing program). The standards by which these programs are measured have generally been developed by the professionals involved in each discipline and are intended to reflect what a person needs to know and be able to do to function successfully within that profession. Accreditation in allied health disciplines serves a very important public interest. Along with certification, accreditation is a tool intended to help assure a well-prepared and qualified workforce providing health care services.
My university is already accredited so why would we need additional accreditation?
The college being accredited as an institution is different from a program specific to a profession that is accredited within the college. CAAHEP requires that any CAAHEP accredited program be provided at an accredited institution. CAAHEP accreditation provides another layer of accreditation specific to the program (in this case Lactation Consultant) that will prepare a graduate for a specific profession.
Who is CAAHEP?
The Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) is the largest programmatic/specialized accreditor in the health sciences field. In collaboration with its Committees on Accreditation, CAAHEP reviews and accredits more than 2200 educational programs in 33 health science professions. While most programs are in North America, there are emerging programs in other parts of the world. Prior to 1994, accreditation in most health science disciplines was a function of a Committee within the American Medical Association (AMA). When the AMA decided to turn over accreditation of these programs to another entity, CAAHEP was born.
What is a learning domain?
As stated in the CAAHEP Standards, learning domains are cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior). Programs need to ensure that students receive appropriate instruction that meets all three learning domains.
The LEAARC Approval process is for didactic programs only. Am I correct that accreditation requires clinical experience as well?
That is correct. LEAARC Approved courses provide the 90 hours of didactic instruction. LEAARC Approved Clinical Internships provide mentored hours toward the IBLCE requirement for clinical instruction. A CAAHEP accredited lactation program provides all didactic and clinical instruction required for IBCLC certification and qualifies the graduate for the examination through Pathway 2.
The outcomes assessment requires data on "national/international credentialing examinations performance." How can we acquire that information from the certification board?
The International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners will release this information upon request by the program only for the Pathway 2 academic programs that have gone through the accreditation process. The candidate pool from the institution as a particular year must be large enough to assure anonymity. Contact IBLCE for more information.
What is the outcome if a collegiate program decides not to pursue this accreditation? Would the student still be eligible to sit for the certification exam?
Although program accreditation through CAAHEP is voluntary, the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners requires that a Pathway 2 program be accredited. This requirement applies only to Pathway 2, not to Pathway 1 or Pathway 3.
How do we know if we are ready for accreditation?
Prior to applying for accreditation, you can review the Standards and Guidelines for the profession located on the LEAARC website. All CAAHEP accredited programs for lactation consultants must comply with the Standards and Guidelines, which include a curriculum that provides students with a broad base of support coursework to serve as a foundation for lactation consultant practice and the core competencies for lactation consultant practice. There are also additional resources on the website to assist programs preparing for accreditation.
Must the director of an accredited program be an IBCLC?
The person who plans the curriculum and supervises the teaching must be an IBCLC. This applies to both the didactic and clinical content. A program director who serves solely as an administrator and does not oversee the educational content does not need to be an IBCLC. In that instance, a separate Curriculum Coordinator or similarly titled person would be responsible for the curriculum content and must be an IBCLC.
How is a “one-year program in lactation” defined? Is this an academic year or a calendar year? Are there minimum credits?
CAAHEP does not dictate the program content or length as long as Standards are met. While CAAHEP’s minimum for accreditation is one year, what you really need to look at are the Standards and Guidelines that are required for an accredited lactation program. With all the general education college courses and the lactation curriculum (both didactic and clinical) the program will likely be closer to two academic years.
Must students complete the general health science courses prior to entry into the lactation program?
Completing the general health science courses provides a broad base of knowledge that would benefit students when they enter the lactation courses. However, that is a decision for the college to make. The CAAHEP Standards and Guidelines are intentionally broad enough to leave those kinds of administrative decisions to the discretion of the college.
What types of fees are associated with accreditation?
Once accredited by CAAHEP, CAAHEP charges an annual institutional fee to the sponsor (the college or university). This fee is for the institution and is not based on the number of CAAHEP accredited programs an institution has. LEAARC has fees for the accreditation process (review of the Self-Study Report and the site visit). An Annual Accreditation Services Fee will be due after the first year of accreditation. See Accreditation Procedures for current accreditation fees.
What is the process for a program to become accredited?
The process begins with submission of the online CAAHEP Request for Accreditation Services and an application fee to LEAARC. The program then submits a Self-Study Report and accreditation fees and receives a site visit from LEAARC. LEAARC will submit a recommendation on accreditation to CAAHEP and the CAAHEP board will vote on the recommendation at their next scheduled meeting. See Accreditation Procedures for more details about the process for applying for accreditation.
How long does the accreditation process take?
The time required for the program to complete the Self-Study Report and for LEAARC to review the Self-Study Report, conduct the site visit, and determine a recommendation has several factors. It depends on the overall readiness of the program, the quality of the self-study document, and the program’s preparation for the on-site review. The program is allowed one year to submit the Self-Study Report to LEAARC, and some programs have needed an extension on the deadline. The average time for currently accredited lactation programs ranges from 18 months to 3 years.
Does CAAHEP accreditation expire?
Initial accreditation is for 5 years. At the end of the 5-year initial accreditation period, the program will submit another Self-Study Report to demonstrate continued compliance with the Standards. The program may be awarded continuing accreditation, or its initial accreditation may be allowed to expire if the program no longer meets the Standards. Once a program has received continuing accreditation, the program will submit a Self-Study Report every 5 years. Accreditation remains in place until the CAAHEP Board of Directors votes otherwise. The CAAHEP Board of Directors reserves the right to place a program on probation or withdraw accreditation at such time that the program no longer meets CAAHEP Standards and has been appropriately notified.
What reporting is required?
Accredited programs are required to submit an Annual Accreditation Report. The report will include outcomes assessment data, action plan for improvement, and any major changes in the program. Outcome measures such as graduation rate, graduate employment rate, and employer comments regarding the competence of program graduates are a few examples of the critical measures LEAARC will evaluate. Programs are also required to report any changes in key personnel within ten business days.
LEAARC recognition assures students that the course:
- Provides a minimum of 40 contact hours and teaches how to assist families in the normal course of breastfeeding, through providing support and education.
- Covers some of the topics identified in the IBLCE Detailed Content Outline and some of the competencies in the LEAARC curriculum.
- Is taught by qualified faculty, with primary lactation faculty IBCLC certified.
What is required for approval of a clinical internship program?
LEAARC launched recognition of clinical internships in 2018. Internships approved by LEAARC have been in operation for a minimum of one year and have graduated at least one intern. The program offers a minimum of 500 clinical instruction hours and has a method to assess intern progress toward achievement of competencies. Program faculty are IBCLC certified and comply with the Code of Professional Conduct for IBCLCs.
What is required for recognition of a clinical instructor?
Clinical mentors recognized by LEAARC have been in operation for a minimum of one year and have completed mentorship of at least one intern. The mentor provides a minimum of 100 hours of supervised clinical experience for students seeking to become International Board Certified Lactation Consultants®. The mentor has a method to assess intern progress toward achievement of competencies. The mentor is IBCLC certified and complies with the Code of Professional Conduct for IBCLCs.
How do I apply for recognition or approval of my course?
Courses seeking approval or recognition may contact office@leaarc.org to request an application for the relevant program.
Questions About Accreditation and CAAHEP
What is accreditation ... and why is it important?
Accreditation is an effort to assess the quality of institutions, programs and services, measuring them against agreed-upon standards and thereby assuring that they meet those standards. In the case of post-secondary education, there are two kinds of accreditation.
Institutional accreditation helps to assure potential students that a school is a sound institution and has met certain minimum standards in terms of administration, resources, faculty and facilities.
Programmatic (or specialized) accreditation examines specific schools or programs within an educational institution (e.g., the law school, the medical school, the nursing program). The standards by which these programs are measured have generally been developed by the professionals involved in each discipline and are intended to reflect what a person needs to know and be able to do to function successfully within that profession. Accreditation in allied health disciplines serves a very important public interest. Along with certification, accreditation is a tool intended to help assure a well-prepared and qualified workforce providing health care services.
My university is already accredited so why would we need additional accreditation?
The college being accredited as an institution is different from a program specific to a profession that is accredited within the college. CAAHEP requires that any CAAHEP accredited program be provided at an accredited institution. CAAHEP accreditation provides another layer of accreditation specific to the program (in this case Lactation Consultant) that will prepare a graduate for a specific profession.
Who is CAAHEP?
The Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) is the largest programmatic/specialized accreditor in the health sciences field. In collaboration with its Committees on Accreditation, CAAHEP reviews and accredits more than 2200 educational programs in 33 health science professions. While most programs are in North America, there are emerging programs in other parts of the world. Prior to 1994, accreditation in most health science disciplines was a function of a Committee within the American Medical Association (AMA). When the AMA decided to turn over accreditation of these programs to another entity, CAAHEP was born.
What is a learning domain?
As stated in the CAAHEP Standards, learning domains are cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior). Programs need to ensure that students receive appropriate instruction that meets all three learning domains.
The LEAARC Approval process is for didactic programs only. Am I correct that accreditation requires clinical experience as well?
That is correct. LEAARC Approved courses provide the 90 hours of didactic instruction. LEAARC Approved Clinical Internships provide mentored hours toward the IBLCE requirement for clinical instruction. A CAAHEP accredited lactation program provides all didactic and clinical instruction required for IBCLC certification and qualifies the graduate for the examination through Pathway 2.
The outcomes assessment requires data on "national/international credentialing examinations performance." How can we acquire that information from the certification board?
The International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners will release this information upon request by the program only for the Pathway 2 academic programs that have gone through the accreditation process. The candidate pool from the institution as a particular year must be large enough to assure anonymity. Contact IBLCE for more information.
What is the outcome if a collegiate program decides not to pursue this accreditation? Would the student still be eligible to sit for the certification exam?
Although program accreditation through CAAHEP is voluntary, the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners requires that a Pathway 2 program be accredited. This requirement applies only to Pathway 2, not to Pathway 1 or Pathway 3.
How do we know if we are ready for accreditation?
Prior to applying for accreditation, you can review the Standards and Guidelines for the profession located on the LEAARC website. All CAAHEP accredited programs for lactation consultants must comply with the Standards and Guidelines, which include a curriculum that provides students with a broad base of support coursework to serve as a foundation for lactation consultant practice and the core competencies for lactation consultant practice. There are also additional resources on the website to assist programs preparing for accreditation.
Must the director of an accredited program be an IBCLC?
The person who plans the curriculum and supervises the teaching must be an IBCLC. This applies to both the didactic and clinical content. A program director who serves solely as an administrator and does not oversee the educational content does not need to be an IBCLC. In that instance, a separate Curriculum Coordinator or similarly titled person would be responsible for the curriculum content and must be an IBCLC.
How is a “one-year program in lactation” defined? Is this an academic year or a calendar year? Are there minimum credits?
CAAHEP does not dictate the program content or length as long as Standards are met. While CAAHEP’s minimum for accreditation is one year, what you really need to look at are the Standards and Guidelines that are required for an accredited lactation program. With all the general education college courses and the lactation curriculum (both didactic and clinical) the program will likely be closer to two academic years.
Must students complete the general health science courses prior to entry into the lactation program?
Completing the general health science courses provides a broad base of knowledge that would benefit students when they enter the lactation courses. However, that is a decision for the college to make. The CAAHEP Standards and Guidelines are intentionally broad enough to leave those kinds of administrative decisions to the discretion of the college.
What types of fees are associated with accreditation?
Once accredited by CAAHEP, CAAHEP charges an annual institutional fee to the sponsor (the college or university). This fee is for the institution and is not based on the number of CAAHEP accredited programs an institution has. LEAARC has fees for the accreditation process (review of the Self-Study Report and the site visit). An Annual Accreditation Services Fee will be due after the first year of accreditation. See Accreditation Procedures for current accreditation fees.
What is the process for a program to become accredited?
The process begins with submission of the online CAAHEP Request for Accreditation Services and an application fee to LEAARC. The program then submits a Self-Study Report and accreditation fees and receives a site visit from LEAARC. LEAARC will submit a recommendation on accreditation to CAAHEP and the CAAHEP board will vote on the recommendation at their next scheduled meeting. See Accreditation Procedures for more details about the process for applying for accreditation.
How long does the accreditation process take?
The time required for the program to complete the Self-Study Report and for LEAARC to review the Self-Study Report, conduct the site visit, and determine a recommendation has several factors. It depends on the overall readiness of the program, the quality of the self-study document, and the program’s preparation for the on-site review. The program is allowed one year to submit the Self-Study Report to LEAARC, and some programs have needed an extension on the deadline. The average time for currently accredited lactation programs ranges from 18 months to 3 years.
Does CAAHEP accreditation expire?
Initial accreditation is for 5 years. At the end of the 5-year initial accreditation period, the program will submit another Self-Study Report to demonstrate continued compliance with the Standards. The program may be awarded continuing accreditation, or its initial accreditation may be allowed to expire if the program no longer meets the Standards. Once a program has received continuing accreditation, the program will submit a Self-Study Report every 5 years. Accreditation remains in place until the CAAHEP Board of Directors votes otherwise. The CAAHEP Board of Directors reserves the right to place a program on probation or withdraw accreditation at such time that the program no longer meets CAAHEP Standards and has been appropriately notified.
What reporting is required?
Accredited programs are required to submit an Annual Accreditation Report. The report will include outcomes assessment data, action plan for improvement, and any major changes in the program. Outcome measures such as graduation rate, graduate employment rate, and employer comments regarding the competence of program graduates are a few examples of the critical measures LEAARC will evaluate. Programs are also required to report any changes in key personnel within ten business days.
Institutional accreditation helps to assure potential students that a school is a sound institution and has met certain minimum standards in terms of administration, resources, faculty and facilities.
Programmatic (or specialized) accreditation examines specific schools or programs within an educational institution (e.g., the law school, the medical school, the nursing program). The standards by which these programs are measured have generally been developed by the professionals involved in each discipline and are intended to reflect what a person needs to know and be able to do to function successfully within that profession. Accreditation in allied health disciplines serves a very important public interest. Along with certification, accreditation is a tool intended to help assure a well-prepared and qualified workforce providing health care services.