Professional Development Units

Recertification by Professional Development Units (PDU) allows Certified Child Life Specialists® an opportunity to choose education and training options specific to their individual professional needs. In order to be eligible for recertification, CCLSs choosing the PDU option must earn a minimum number of Professional Development Units within their five-year recertification cycle.

CCLSs may begin to collect PDUs immediately after they have successfully completed the Child Life Professional Certification Examination. Individuals who have recertified may begin accruing PDUs for their new cycle on November 1 of the year that recertification was approved.

The deadline for submitting a PDU application is October 31.

Applicable Professional Development Units

Professional Development Units (PDUs) must have been completed during the five-year cycle for which they are reported.

A CCLS may start accruing PDUs on the day the certification exam is passed and may continue to do so until October 31 of the year in which certification will expire.
A recently recertified CCLS may begin accruing PDUs for the next recertification cycle on November 1 and may continue to do so until October 31 of the year in which the new certification cycle will expire.
Candidates will need to refer to the Exam Content Outline to establish a connection to each PDU session attended. For each session, candidates will select one of the three domains from the Exam Content Outline.

Obtaining Credit

Candidates may obtain credit for the following activity types:

Traditional professional development (conference sessions, college courses, workshops, seminars)
Independent study
Presenting
Internship supervision
Publishing
Professional service

For a complete listing of PDU-eligible activities, please refer to the Recertification Manual.

Reporting PDUs

Visit www.childlife.org and login to your profile.
Click the menu icon (3 horizontal bars on a blue background in the top left of the screen)
Click on Add PDUs under Certification/Certification Portal
Click the drop-down menu on Credit Type, select the type of PDU activity you wish to enter. For more information on classifying your PDU activity as well as category maximums and PDU documentation, please consult the Recertification Manual.
Enter all required fields including session name, type, start, and end times, etc. Be sure to enter the start and end date for your PDUs. Failure to enter these dates can cause inaccuracies in your PDU report.
Click save.

Reviewing Your PDUs

After you have entered your PDUs, be sure to check your PDU report to ensure you’ve entered everything properly.

Visit www.childlife.org and login to your profile.
Click the menu icon (3 horizontal bars on a blue background in the top left of the screen
Click on the PDU report under Certification/Certification Portal

If you see any errors, you will need to delete the incorrect entry and re-enter it. There is no editing function in the PDU report.

Submitting Your Application

When your PDU report is complete, you must submit your application and make payment.

Visit www.childlife.org and login to your profile.
Click the menu icon (3 horizontal bars on a blue background in the top left of the screen)
Click on Pay for Recertification under Certification/Certification Portal
Answer the questions presented and digitally sign.
Click on Save and Continue.
Continue with your payment as prompted.

Important Notes

Certified Child Life Specialists must keep supporting documentation for each professional development activity in case the application is selected for random audit.
Do not submit these materials unless requested by the Child Life Certification Commission.
PDUs will be calculated in half hour increments only. CCLSs may not earn PDUs for sessions less than 30 minutes.
Hours will be rounded down to the nearest half-hour increment. (For example, .75 will be credited as .5).
Unless otherwise specified, one education contact hour will be credited for one PDU.
Conference programs must be broken down into individual breakout sessions with an entry for each

Please see the Recertification Manual for additional details.

Classification of PDUs Relating to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Subject Matter for Recertification

Please click here for additional information.

Random Audit of Professional Development Unit Submissions

To uphold and enforce the high standards that have been set for child life professional development, the Child Life Certification Commission conducts an annual, random audit of Professional Development Unit (PDU) recertification applications. The percentage of certificants to be audited is set by the CLCC. Audit of PDUs does not mean that there is doubt about the honesty or accuracy of claimed PDUs.

It is essential to maintain a complete file of documentation of PDUs in the event your application is randomly selected for the audit process.