• What is Family Life Education?
• Do you need to have a license in order to be a Family Life Educator?
• Where are Family Life Educators employed?
• What is the Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) program?
• Why become a CFLE?
• What are the benefits of being a Certified Family Life Educator?
• What are the minimum requirements for the CFLE credential?
• How do I become a Certified Family Life Educator?
• What is the difference between Provisional and Full Certification?
• What schools offer NCFR-Approved Programs?
• If I graduated from an NCFR-Approved Program do I have to take the CFLE exam?
• How much does it cost to apply for the CFLE certification?
• How does NCFR define work experience in Family Life Education?
• Once certified, how do I maintain my certification?
• What is the difference between being a CFLE and being a member of NCFR?
• What does NCFR consider to be an official transcript?
• Is there an official Code of Ethics for the CFLE program?

What is Family Life Education?
Family life education is a preventive and educational approach that focuses on healthy family functioning within a family systems perspective. The skills and knowledge needed for healthy functioning are widely known: strong communication skills, knowledge of typical human development, good decision-making skills, positive self-esteem, and healthy interpersonal relationships. The goal of family life education is to teach and foster this knowledge and these skills to enable individuals and families to function optimally.

Family life education professionals consider societal issues including economics, education, work-family issues, parenting, sexuality, gender and more within the context of the family. They believe that societal problems such as substance abuse, domestic violence, unemployment, debt, and child abuse can be more effectively addressed from a perspective that considers the individual and family as part of larger systems. Knowledge about healthy family functioning can be applied to prevent or minimize many of these problems. Family life education provides this information through an educational approach, often in a classroom-type setting or through educational materials.

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Do you need to have a license in order to be a Family Life Educator?
There is no legal requirement for family life education. Anyone can say that they are a family life educator. That is one of the reasons that the National Council on Family Relations created the Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) credential. The CFLE credential recognizes that the designate has met industry standards for effective practice.

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Where are Family Life Educators employed?
Family life educators work in a variety of settings. They bring comprehensive family training to a myriad of employment sectors and job classifications. Often, CFLEs work in the following venues:

• Practice - teaching, education, research/scholarship, program or curricula development,
• Administration - leadership or management, organizing, coordinating, and
• Promotion - public policy, lobbying, advocating for system change and awareness.

Career Options
Family Life Education takes place in a variety of settings. There are probably numerous instances of family life education occurring in your community on any given day. There are family life educators working in health care settings – doing workshops and classes in hospitals, in community education, in faith communities, in junior and senior high schools, in colleges and universities, in social service agencies, in corporate settings, in government agencies, in corrections, in retirement communities and in the military.

The FLE Employer brochure describes family life education and the benefits of hiring a Certified Family Life Educator. Free copies of the brochure are available by contacting Jenny Poeschl at mailroom@ncfr.org .

FLE Employers Brochure (link to PDF)

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What is the Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) program?
The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) provides certification for the profession of family life education. The Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) program encourages applications from professionals with preparation and experience in family life education including formal teaching, research/scholarship, community education, public information and education, curriculum and resource development, health care, military family support, and ministry. Certified family life educators have a minimum of a bachelor's degree; many CFLEs have advanced degrees.

The Certified Family Life Educator credential requires demonstrated knowledge in the ten family life content areas: Family Life Education Content Areas (link to pdf)

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Why become a CFLE?
Certification recognizes a proven background and understanding in each of ten family life content areas. While CFLEs may work specifically in one discipline, such as parent education or marriage enrichment, their understanding of the many areas that affect today's families enables them to be more effective in their efforts to educate and work with individuals and families. The Certified Family Life Educator designation recognizes the educational, preventive, and enriching nature of their work. Additionally, standards identified for certification help to increase awareness and understanding of family life education as a profession.

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What are the benefits of being a Certified Family Life Educator?

Certification…

• Certification increases credibility by showing that the high standards and criteria needed to provide quality family life education have been met.
• It adds credibility to the field of family life education by defining standards and criteria needed to provide quality family life education.
• It validates education and experience
• Recognizes the broad, comprehensive range of issues which constitute family life education and expertise in the field.
• Acknowledges the preventative focus of family life education.
• Provides avenues for networking with other family life educators both locally and nationally.
• CFLEs receive a quarterly newsletter, access to a directory of other CFLEs and access to the CFLE listserv. The listserv is a great resource for announcing events, job opportunities, Call for papers, and sharing information on curricula, teaching ideas, etc.

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What are the minimum requirements for the CFLE credential?

Minimum Requirements for the Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) designation
All applicants for the Certified Family Life Educator designation must meet the minimum requirement of completion of a baccalaureate or advanced degree from an accredited* college/university.

*Accredited means a recognized regional agency for the accreditation of a Baccalaureate Institutions, Acceptable agencies include: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Degrees earned outside the United States
Applicants with a degree earned outside of the United States must provide evidence of degree equivalency to a degree earned in the United States. Credentials should be evaluated by an official credential evaluation service that is a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). A list of members of NACES can be found at www.naces.org

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How do I become a Certified Family Life Educator?

There are two ways to become a CFLE: the Abbreviated Application process and the CFLE Exam.
Abbreviated Application process
Graduates of NCFR-approved academic programs can apply for Provisional Certification through an Abbreviated Application process. Each NCFR-approved program has a checklist of coursework that has been approved by NCFR to meet the CFLE requirements. Students must complete all courses on the school checklist in order to qualify to apply through the Abbreviated process. Applicants applying through the Abbreviated Application process DO NOT need to take the CFLE Exam.

CFLE Exam
If you did not graduate from an NCFR-approved academic program within the past two years you would need to take the CFLE Exam in order to be Certified. You can receive Provisional Certification upon successful completion of the CFLE Exam. You can receive Full Certification by successfully completing the CFLE Exam and documenting work experience in family life education.

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What is the difference between Provisional and Full Certification?
There are two levels of certification, Provisional and Full.

Provisional Certification is available to CFLE applicants who have demonstrated content knowledge in each of the ten family life content areas, but who have not yet earned sufficient work experience hours in family life education to qualify for Full status.

Full Certification is available to CFLE applicants who have demonstrated both content knowledge and sufficient work experience in providing family life education.

Provisional certification can be earned by graduating from an NCFR-approved academic program and completing the Abbreviated Application process, OR, by successfully completing the CFLE Exam.

Full certification can be earned in two ways. One option is to first obtain Provisional Certification through the Abbreviated Application process and then to upgrade to Full Certification upon documentation of sufficient work experience in family life education. The amount of work experience needed is contingent upon the applicability and level of the degree earned. See Certification Requirements Table.

The other option for Full certification is the successful completion of the CFLE Exam along with the simultaneous submission of documentation of work experience in family life education. FLE work experience is documented through completion of the Family Life Education Work Experience Summary Form and submission of the Employer Verification and Assessment Form

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What schools offer NCFR-Approved Programs?
There are currently 110 NCFR-Approved academic programs. A list of all programs can be found on the NCFR website at http://www.ncfr.org/cert/academic/programs/

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If I graduated from an NCFR-Approved Program do I have to take the CFLE exam?
As long as you completed the pre-approved courses on your school’s CFLE checklist and apply within three years of graduation, you do not need to take the CFLE Exam.

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How much does it cost to apply for the CFLE Certification?
The cost for certification varies depending upon the level (Provisional vs Full) of Certification and the application process (Abbreviated vs CFLE Exam). CFLE Fees Table

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How does NCFR define work experience in Family Life Education?
The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) considers family life education work experience to be employment that involves prevention and education for individuals and families relevant to the ten FLE Content Areas. Employment is typically demonstrated through curriculum and material development, and the development or presentation of workshops, courses or programs involving life skills; i.e. communication, parenting, financial management, sexuality, etc. Family life education can also involve research, program administration and policy development.

Family life education work experience can include a variety of activities (paid or unpaid) such as program development, program coordination/administration, program evaluation, needs assessments, marketing of family life education materials and programs, curriculum or resource development, publications, presentations, group facilitation, and community collaboration. In order to consider work experience activities as family life education the work should reflect these criteria:

• The work is educational and preventive in nature, rather than therapeutic
• The work is related to at least one of the ten family life content areas
• The work considers the whole family, even when working only with individuals (i.e., family systems perspective).
• The work reflects a lifespan perspective – childhood, adolescence, adulthood, later adulthood.
• The work includes identified content or a planned curriculum or program.

Many family life educators work in settings in which only part of their work would be considered family life education. The focus of their work or of the agency in which they work may be intervention or counseling or therapy. Still, they are able to incorporate a preventive, educational approach to their work by teaching life skills or providing education that strengthens an individual and/or their family.

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Once certified, how do I maintain my certification?
All CFLEs, whether Provisional or Full status, must pay the Annual Maintenance fee.

CFLEs with Provisional status must upgrade to Full Certification within five years of approval by documenting work experience in family life education.

CFLEs with Full Certification must recertified every five years by submitting evidence of 100 hours of continuing education activity.

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What is the difference between being a CFLE and being a member of NCFR?
Membership in the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) and the Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) program are two separate things.

NCFR is a membership organization for family professionals. Membership in NCFR is voluntary. Anyone who wants to be a member of NCFR can be by paying the membership dues. Information on NCFR membership can be found at http://www.ncfr.org/member/info.asp . There are a number of benefits to being a member of NCFR including subscriptions to our journals and the NCFR newsletter, Report, discounts on conference registration and products, and networking opportunities.

In order to be a CFLE you must complete an application process and meet the certification requirements.

Because NCFR is the sponsoring agency for the CFLE program, NCFR members pay lower CFLE fees than non-members, but you do not have to be a member of NCFR in order to be a CFLE.

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What does NCFR consider to be an official transcript?
An official transcript must include a watermark or embossment. It does not have to be in a sealed envelope or be sent directly from the school. NCFR will not accept photocopy, fax, or electronically-transmitted transcripts. The transcript needs to include information on the degree completed and the date conferred.

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