Bay Area Center for Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)

Bay Area Center (BAC) for Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is accredited by the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE). Bay Area Center for CPE is accredited to offer Levels I and II CPE and Certified Educator CPE by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education.
 

ACPE, Inc.
1 Concourse Pkwy, Suite 800
Atlanta, GA 30328

Phone: (404) 320-1472
Fax: (404) 320-0849 

[email protected]
www.acpe.edu

As a CPE student, you can expect to participate in the following ways:

Direct Ministry with Patients, Residents, Loved Ones, Families, and Staff

Most of your time will involve working as a chaplain in a specific unit of Sequoia Hospital, providing spiritual care to the people who come onto your unit. In addition, you will participate in the overnight (usually once per week) and weekend (usually once per month) on-call rotation, serving as the chaplain for the entire hospital on a rotating basis.

Clinical Supervision

You will receive individual and group supervision in all areas of your training. This includes a minimum 100 hours of structured education and 300 hours of clinical work. A final evaluation will be presented at the end of each unit of CPE. Certified Educators in our center are certified with the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE).

Peer Group Work

You will join a group with other CPE students and a Certified Educator/Certified Educator Candidates. You will present cases that are based on your clinical work, reflect on your faith tradition, simulate incidents, practice pastoral responses, and engage in interpersonal group relations.

Didactic Workshops and Seminars

You will attend presentations on topics related to spiritual care and assessment, ethics, behavioral sciences, hospital chaplaincy, cultural sensitivity, interfaith awareness, and other issues. 

Reading and Writing Assignments

You will be expected to do supplemental reading and prepare papers related to your learning goals and the ACPE objectives.

The Bay Area Center for CPE program is designed to help you gain experience and expertise in the following areas:

Pastoral Reflection 

Reflecting on yourself as a person and minister in relation to people in crisis, your supervisor, and your peers, as well as the CPE curriculum and the hospital in which you are serving

Pastoral Formation

Focusing on your personal and pastoral identity issues in learning and ministry

Pastoral Competence

Deepening and unfolding your competence in functioning as a spiritual caregiver including skill development and knowledge of faith traditions and the behavioral sciences

Pastoral Specialization

Supporting your desire to become competent and knowledgeable in a particular area of clinical service, e.g., oncology, emergency, outpatient, general medical-surgical, palliative care, cardiology, rehabilitation, psychiatry, etc.

The Bay Area Center for CPE is accredited for Level I, Level II and Certified Educator CPE by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (acpe.edu). With this accreditation, we offer three formats for CPE.

Residency

Residency consists of four units of training in a calendar year. Residents receive an annual stipend of $48,000, plus up to $400/month in reimbursement for medical insurance premiums paid by the resident. Residents serve full-time, five days a week, with on-call responsibilities. In addition to the stipend, students receive 15 personal leave days, and eight hospital holidays. Tuition is $400 per unit.

Internship 

An internship consists of one unit of training. Interns work part-time, two days a week (including one Sat or Sun), with on-call responsibilities. Interns receive a stipend of $10,000 per unit. Tuition is $500 per unit. 

An applicant’s suitability for admission to any CPE program is a matter of professional judgment by the ACPE accredited center in accordance with its admission policies. Requirements for admission to CPE programs include but are not limited to:

• A completed ACPE application. A typical CPE application consists of 10 to15 pages.
• There is no application fee for this center. 
• Student and supervisory evaluations from any prior units of CPE.
• An admission interview with a qualified interviewer, for persons applying for an initial unit of CPE, to determine readiness for clinical learning.
• Either graduation from high school/completion of a GED or ordination by a religious/spiritual tradition or commission to function in spiritual care by an appropriate religious/spiritual authority as determined by ACPE.
• Fulfillment of education or experience requirements established by the ACPE accredited center.
• A signed Use of Clinical Materials Consent Form

Admission Policy

Bay Area Center for CPE is committed to giving fair and thorough consideration to all qualified applicants and to enhancing the educational experience by selecting students with a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. We select students who are seminarians, ministers, religious professionals, and lay persons according to aptitude, ability, and potential for ministry without regard to race, gender, gender identity, age, faith group, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability.

Admission Interview 

After a completed application has been screened by our CPE faculty, the applicant may be invited to visit one of our component sites for an admission interview. The purpose of the interview is both to acquaint the applicant with the program and to learn more about the applicant in a personal encounter. If the applicant is unable to come to the Bay Area, he or she may be interviewed online on video.

Minimum Admissions Criteria  

• Academic preparation: Bachelor's degree and at least one year of theological education at the graduate level, or specialized training in the applicant's faith tradition.
• Educational readiness: motivation, openness to clinical learning, participation in individual and group supervision, and capacity for self-reflection.
• Aptitude for interpersonal work: capacity to function professionally in a hospital environment and ability to minister in a multicultural, multifaith setting.
• Writing and word processing skills sufficient to manage use of the hospitals' computerized information systems and to produce weekly written assignments off-site.
• Practical considerations related to fulfilling program requirements, including clinical assignments, educational components, and on-call responsibilities.

Admission to Supervisory Education entails additional criteria, including sufficient ministry experience to demonstrate pastoral competence, completion of four units of CPE with successful attainment of Level II outcomes, a consultation on readiness with a regional consultation committee, and clinical membership in the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE).

Rolling Admissions Process

We do not have application deadlines. Applicants are encouraged to apply beginning October 1 for admission to the Fall program beginning the next Fall.  Persons accepted into the program will be informed in writing and allowed ten (10) business days to accept an offer of admission by sending in a $200 non-refundable deposit. Any application not accepted for admission will be destroyed unless the applicant requests in writing that it be returned to the applicant, forwarded to another center, or retained for consideration for future units of CPE.

You may submit your application via email to [email protected] or [email protected]. 

For further questions or information on BAC CPE programs, please contact:

For Sequoia Hospital 
Attn: Rev. Dr. Ki Do Ahn
170  Alameda de las Pulgas
Redwood City, CA 94062
Phone: (650) 367-5947
Email: [email protected]

1. How much does it cost to take CPE?

The tuition for the year-long program is $400 per unit. The tuition for an internship program is $500 per unit. This amount is due in the first week of the unit. Your non-refundable $200 deposit is applied toward the first unit’s tuition cost. Other costs, such as registration fees for retreats, are paid for you by the CPE center.

2. How much will I be paid?

Full-time year-long residents receive $48,000 per year, paid in twelve and a half monthly installments, one at the end of each month of training and a half payment in the concluding September of your training year. This money will be paid to you in the form of a check without tax withholding. Because you will not be an employee of Dignity Health, automatic tax withholding is not available. You are advised to plan accordingly to ensure that you can fulfill your income tax obligations. Interns completing one unit are not paid a stipend. 

3. Will I receive any days off?

If you are a resident, you will accrue five days of personal leave for each unit of CPE that you complete, except for the fourth unit; in other words, you will have accrued fifteen total days of personal leave. These days may be used for vacation time between units (or during Christmas week), for personal appointments, or if you are ill and cannot report for clinical duty. Any personal leave days you intend to use must be approved by your individual supervisor. In addition, CPE students are not required to work on recognized hospital holidays (with the exception of the chaplain on-call, who then receives a compensatory day off from clinical duty). Interns do not accrue personal leave days.

Nothing for the internship program as the internship program is part-time. 

4. Is housing provided?

No. We will inform you of housing opportunities as we learn of them.

5. Is medical insurance provided?

No. However, only year-long residents receive up to $400 per month in reimbursement for medical insurance premiums they pay. This can result in an additional $3,600 in stipend.

6. Is parking provided?

Currently, parking is free for chaplain students at Sequoia Hospital.

7. What is on-call coverage?

Sequoia Hospital requires that chaplains be available to respond to emergencies no matter when they occur, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In order to fulfill this responsibility, we assign a chaplain each day to serve as the overnight or weekend on-call chaplain. You can expect to be assigned on-call duty approximately once every five to six nights. 

8. There seems to be so much to know. Will I receive any orientation?

Yes. We provide a full orientation to the CPE program, including a comprehensive student handbook that should answer many of your questions about working as a chaplain in a hospital environment. In addition, the hospital where you will serve will give you an orientation within the first month of your arrival.

9. Will I have the same certified educator?

You may have more than one supervisor during the course of your residency year.

10. Will my certified educator be qualified?

Yes. All of the supervisory staff are certified to supervise and educate CPE students, either independently or with on-site certified supervision. 

11. Can I be certified as a chaplain after taking CPE?

Four units of ACPE are required to apply to become a Board Certified Chaplain. However, certifying organizations such as APC, NACC, and NAJC have other requirements, and so the answer to this question depends to a great extent upon whether or not you meet these other requirements. Our supervisory staff will be happy to assist you in determining your status in pursuing board certification as a chaplain.

12. Will I be able to find work as a chaplain after taking CPE?

While we can offer no guarantees, Dignity Health puts a high emphasis on providing spiritual care to its patients, and frequently Dignity Health facilities consult us to locate potential candidates for available staff chaplain jobs.

13. Does your center have a summer internship program?

The Bay Area Center for CPE does not offer a dedicated summer internship program at this moment.