(A) The SLTCO shall develop the deployment and certification examinations. The examinations shall be fair and shall test candidates on material received through the professional development sessions provided according to rule 173-14-05 of the Administrative Code. The SLTCO shall validate the examinations to the extent practicable. Any time curriculum is modified, and at least once per year, the SLTCO shall validate the examinations to ensure they are fair and test candidates on material received through the professional-development sessions provided under rule 173-14-05 of the Administrative Code.

(B) The deployment examination shall be administered after a candidate for specialist or program director certification has completed the first forty hours of professional development required by paragraph (B) of rule 173-14-07 of the Administrative Code.

(1) A candidate shall achieve a score of seventy per cent before performing core ombudsman services without direct supervision and may retake the deployment exam until a passing score is achieved.

(2) The SLTCO shall notify the candidate and the candidates regional director in writing of the SLTCOs approval of deployment.

(C) Before administering the certification examination, the state office shall provide a review of the curriculum being tested to candidates who are eligible to take the examinations and who have been trained by the state office.

(D) The regional programs shall proctor any examination given to candidates for associate certification. The state office shall proctor all examinations given to candidates for specialist, program director certification, and associates affiliated with the state office.

(E) The SLTCO shall score the examination in a way that will protect the identity of the candidate taking the examination from the person scoring the examination whenever possible. The examination shall be scored as soon as practicable. A score of seventy or higher on a one-hundred-point scale shall be a passing score.

(F) The SLTCO shall notify the candidate and, where appropriate, the regional program director of the result. The SLTCO may provide a list of suggested continuing education topics to the candidate and, where appropriate, to the regional program director.

(G) The SLTCO shall provide each candidate and the candidate's supervisor with an opportunity to review the candidate's examination during the thirty-day review period after the SLTCO releases the candidate's results. Once the thirty days for review have passed, the SLTCO shall destroy the examination papers according to state records retention schedules.

(H) A candidate who fails an examination may request technical assistance to prepare for the next examination. The SLTCO shall be responsible for providing the technical assistance to paid staff of the office and to volunteers of the state office. The regional programs may provide technical assistance to their volunteers.

No candidate who fails an examination may retake the examination more than two times. Retakes of the examination shall be offered as soon as practicable, but both retakes must be taken within the first three months following receipt of notification that the candidate has failed the first examination. After failing the examination three times, the regional director shall remove the individual from the provision of core services.

A volunteer representative who has failed the specialist examination may take an associate examination.

No candidate who is currently certified as a representative of the office shall lose the certification status currently assigned to that representative based upon a failure to pass any higher-level certification examination.

Last updated October 6, 2021 at 10:19 AM