Internship Accreditation

ACLP Clinical Internship Accreditation assures that a program or consortium meets the minimum standards and requirements established for clinical preparation programs in child life in the most current Official Documents of the Child Life Council as well as the Child Life Clinical Internship Learning Modules. Accreditation is a voluntary two-step process of self-study and external review intended to evaluate, enhance, and publicly recognize quality child life clinical internship programs, promoting the interests of students and the child life profession as a whole through continuous quality improvement of learning and professional practice.

We are currently evaluating this program and are not accepting new applications at this time.

The Value of Accreditation

Professional Identity

An accredited clinical internship will attract exceptional interns and job candidates.

Recognition

Achieve formal acknowledgement of your internship's accomplishments.

Advancement

An accredited internship may help your interns benefit from enhanced career opportunities.

Respect

Improve your program's credibility by demonstrating your specialized knowledge and expertise to peers, management, and interdisciplinary colleagues.

Growth

An accredited internship program prepares your interns for continued professional excellence through strong education and professional development.

Pride

Enjoy a sense of pride in knowing your internship improves standards and quality of care by providing the highest caliber of clinical training.

The Accreditation Process

1. Apply

Submit the intent-to-apply form to InternshipAccreditation@childlife.org to receive an assigned due date.
Prepare application narratives and supporting documentation.
Receive online application portal access and application fee invoice 2-3 months before due date.

2. Review

Accreditation applications are reviewed by child life specialists with extensive internship coordination experience.
Applications undergo a two-tiered review process. There is an initial blind review of Sub-sections B and C followed by an overall review, including Sub-section A.
Reviews can take up to 3 months to complete.

3. Decision

You will receive your accreditation decision in the mail. There are three possible outcomes:

Accredited: Application meets all standards and program is fully-accredited.
Application Extended Pending Edits: The program meets the majority of the standards but the reviewers need additional information on some. The program is given an opportunity revise specific sections of the application for clarity and resubmit without any additional charges.
Denied: The program does not meet accreditation standards.

Fees

Standard Application Fee: $1500 - Due by application due date.
Appeals Fee: $250 - Clinical internship accreditation applicants that are denied accreditation may choose to appeal the accreditation decision.
Annual Maintenance Fee: $100
Accreditation Renewal Fee: To be determined.

Resources

View Accredited Internship Programs

Internship Program Directory