FAQs Regarding Peer Review

Click on each question below to view the answer.

Q1. What is the intention of the peer review?

It is intended to be a collegial and reflective view of one’s chaplaincy care practice, ministry, service, self-care and/or professional development. Peer Review is intended to stimulate personal and professional growth.

Q2. Who has the responsibility for initiating the peer review?

The BCCI office will notify in January of a given year all those who have a peer review due that year. After that, it is the responsibility of the chaplain being reviewed to assemble the committee, set the date, and follow through with the review and the completion and disposition of the Peer Review Report , through the Certification Portal.

Q3. Who can be on the committee?

There is a minimum of three members but the reviewee may add members based on need and interest. Two of the members must be BCCI board certified or associate certified chaplains, one of which may be suggested by the state continuing education chair and preferably not known by the chaplain being reviewed. Other members of the committee may be certified chaplains of an organizational partner, and/or ecclesiastical or professional colleagues of the chaplain being reviewed. The chair of the committee must be a BCCI certified chaplain.

Q4. Can a retired board certified chaplain serve on the peer review committee?

Yes, a retired board certified chaplain satisfies the requirement to have a BCC on the peer review committee.

Q5. Do I have to submit materials in writing to my committee?

The chaplain being reviewed should submit written materials to the Peer Review Committee at least one week prior to the meeting. Possible questions and areas of conversation are included in the materials sent with the peer review notification letter.

Q6. Is the committee’s conversation confidential?

Yes. Only the Peer Review Report (which only notes who was there and where and when the review took place) is submitted through the BCCI Certification portal. That being said, any violations of the Code of Ethics are always reportable by a chaplain to the Professional Ethics Committee.

Q7. Can I fail the Peer Review?

No.

Q8. Do I get continuing education credit for doing this?

Yes. The reviewee is eligible for a maximum of 5 continuing education hours and each reviewer is eligible for 1.5 continuing education hours per peer review attended.

Q9. What if I am dually certified by APC/BCCI and ACPE, CASC, NACC, NAJC or NAVAC?

Those dually certified by BCCI and any of the above groups that require peer review will not have to duplicate the peer review process. The BCCI process is reflective of the processes utilized by these organizational partners. Attach the peer review from ACPE, CASC, NACC, NAJC or NAVAC that was completed within the last five years in the online certification portal to BCCI to satisfy your peer review requirement.

Q10. What if some of the process guidelines will not work in my state or area?

Talk with your state continuing education chair (or state representative if there is no education chair) about how best to meet the standard given the unique complexity of your area. A listing of the state continuing education chairs and state representatives may be found on the APC website or by calling the national office.

Q11. Does the Peer Review have to be done in-person?

In-person meetings may be done in-person or virtually.

Q12. Are participants on a peer review eligible for reimbursement of travel and other expenses?

No, the policies and procedures adopted by the BCCI Board of Directors do not provide for reimbursement.

Q13. Can a peer review be cancelled by the Peer Review Committee chair?

The reviewee is responsible for ensuring that all the guidelines are met. If there are exceptions to the guidelines, these need to be communicated to the chair and committee when the written materials are sent out. If the reviewee does not submit any written materials one week prior to the scheduled peer review, the chair of the committee may cancel the peer review and ask that it be rescheduled. Also, if a member of the committee becomes ill and cannot participate, the meeting should be rescheduled or an alternate BCCI-certified BCC should be asked to participate on the committee.

Q14. What if I have changed faith groups?

If you have changed spiritual/faith groups since you became certified or since your last peer review (whichever is most recent), then you must inform the national office.

In addition, certified chaplains who change spiritual/faith groups must submit to the national office a letter of endorsement or support. The letter must be sent directly from the spiritual/faith group to the BCCI office. The letter must have an original signature and must be on spiritual/faith group letterhead. The spiritual/faith group must be recognized by the Armed Forces Chaplain Board or BCCI. If not, you must contact the BCCI office, bcci@apchaplains.org, regarding a review of the faith group.