ARF renewal requirements in California

Last reviewed August 2026. Fees and forms change. You are responsible for confirming your own requirements with CDSS. Please read the full disclosure at the end of this article.

Your ARF administrator certificate is good for two years. To renew it you need to:

1. Complete 40 hours of CDSS-approved continuing education during the two-year period.
2. Make sure those 40 hours include the required subject minimums.
3. Complete at least 20 of the 40 hours in a live format.
4. Submit your application, your certificates of completion, and the fee before your expiration date.

What the 40 hours must include

The LGBT hour is required if you did not already take it during your Initial Certification Training Program. Most administrators certified before that topic was added still need it.

Everything else has to be tied to the Core of Knowledge and approved by CDSS for ARF administrators. A course that is interesting but unapproved earns you nothing.

Live hours versus online hours

This is the rule people miss most often.

At least 20 of your 40 hours must be live. Live means a physical classroom or an interactive session such as a livestreamed webinar where the instructor is present with you.

At most 20 hours may be self-paced online. Old-style home study does not count at all.

So a fully self-paced plan cannot get you to 40. At least half of your renewal has to come from live instruction.

Rules that trip administrators up

• Ten hours a day is the cap. Anything beyond ten hours completed in a single day does not count.
• A course counts once per renewal period. Repeating the same course does not earn a second set of hours.
• ICTP courses do not count. Initial Certification Training Program courses cannot be used for a renewal.
• The vendor has to be approved. Your certificate of completion should show the vendor's CDSS approval number and your hours.
• Timing matters. Hours must be earned during your certificate's active period, between its effective date and its expiration date. Hours banked before that period do not carry over.
• The window for submitting is 90 days. CDSS accepts your renewal application no more than 90 days before your expiration date.

If your certificate has already expired

You can still fix this, and it gets more expensive the longer you wait.

• Expired at all. Add a $300 delinquency fee on top of the $140 processing fee.
• Expired two to four years. You owe the hours for every renewal cycle you missed. Two missed cycles means 80 hours, not 40.
• Expired more than four years. The certificate cannot be renewed. You start the certification process over, including the Initial Certification Training Program and the exam.

What Essential CEU Institute covers

We cover both halves of your 40 hours. You can take both with us, or come to us for just the half you still need.

The self-paced half. Our online catalog is on demand, so it applies against your 20 self-paced hours.

• ARF Regulations Focus. 4 hours. Covers your full 4-hour laws and regulations minimum.
• ARF Mandatory Core. 6 hours. Adds a 2-hour LGBT diversity course, which more than covers the 1-hour minimum.
• ARF Online Recertification Suite. 20 hours. Fills your entire self-paced half in one purchase, including the regulations and LGBT minimums plus 14 hours of electives.

The live half. Our live-stream webinars are live instruction with real-time Q&A, so they apply against your 20 live hours. Several sessions also carry laws and regulations hours, so you can meet that minimum live if you prefer. Seats are capped, and your certificate is emailed after the session.

Already completed one half somewhere else? Register for just the piece you are missing. Your renewal does not care where each half was earned, only that the hours, subjects, and formats are right. Check the CDSS approval codes listed with each course and session to confirm it applies to ARF. Every course in our catalog lists a separate approval number for each facility type.

Managing renewals for more than just yourself?

If you're the administrator handling CEU compliance for other staff, not just your own ARF renewal, a Team Subscription covers your whole roster in one place. Add staff by email, assign the right bundle to each person's role, and see who's completed their hours from a single dashboard. It covers every license type your facility runs, not just ARF, and keeps per-staff records ready to hand a CCLD inspector on demand.

Not sure where to start? Take your first course free and see whether our format fits how you like to study.

Where to confirm the current rules

• CDSS Administrator Certification renewal page: https://cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/community-care/administrator-certification/administrator-information/renewal
• California Code of Regulations, Title 22, Section 85064.3
• California Health and Safety Code Section 1562.3

Still have a question about your specific renewal cycle? Contact our support team and we will help you map your remaining hours.