Department of Human Development and Family Studies

Human Development and Family Studies Certifications

Certification Opportunities 

Graduate students who pursue a MS in Human Development and Family Studies may choose to add coursework to their program of study to meet certification requirements for either Child Life or Certified Family Life Educator.  To learn more about each of these certification programs,

see below.

Child Life Certification

To take the Child Life certifying exam, HDFS graduate students need the following 15 hours of courses that are IN ADDITION to their regular program of study in HD or FS:

PHL 204:  Medical Ethics

HD 426: Hospitalized Child

HD 401: Multicultural influences on human development

HD 551:  Loss and Bereavement

HD 553:  Medical Play Therapy

Students seeking certification also need to have either:

a)      HD 592:  Special Problems in Child Life, 480 hours of a child life internship under the supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist (this requirement will count as a Project in lieu of thesis).  Please note that many hospitals require intern applicants to have 50 hours of volunteer experience to be considered for a hospital internship

Or

b)      For applicants who are already working as a Child Life Assistant in a hospital, you need to have 480 hours of paid clinical child life work experience.

To learn more about Child Life, visit the website for the Child Life Council at www.childlife.org

Certified Family Life Educator

The National Council on Family Relations certifies professionals as Family Life Educators.  To take the Family Life Certification exam offered by the National Council on Family Relations, HDFS graduate students need to complete the following 15 hours of courses that are IN ADDITION to their regular program of study in the graduate Family Studies concentration of the HDFS Graduate program:

HD 535: Parent-Child Relationships

HD 576:  Human Sexuality

HD 580:  Children of Divorce

CSM 505:  Public Policy:  Analysis of Family and Consumer Resources

HD 595: Seminar in Methods of Family Life Education (1 credit hour)

HD 689: Practicum in Family Life Education and Program Evaluation (2 credit hours)

For more information about the Certified Family Life Educator Program, visit the website for the National Council on Family Relations at www.ncfr.org.