The California Association of Addiction Recovery Resources (CAARR) established the CAARR Institute in 1978 to offer an alternative form of education for recovering people working in the alcohol and drug treatment profession. CAARR’s education department became CCAPP Education Institute, Inc. in 2014. The CAARR Institute was renamed the CCAPP Academy in 2017.

Many of these recovering people chose to work in programs providing peer leadership and experience after finding recovery themselves through participation in alcohol and drug programs. It was discovered that these individuals, who understood the process of recovery that worked for them, could improve their effectiveness by gaining knowledge and technical skills through education.

The Academy was designed to be offered in a comfortable, less “academic” atmosphere in easily accessible locations. Instructors are recruited who have an in-depth understanding of the curriculum and can enlighten students with their vast experience in the field.

As more research on recovery and addiction becomes available, the curriculum is revised, edited, and expanded to meet the changing needs of students, programs, and the people they serve.

The Academy has grown and is offered at locations throughout California, including suburban, urban, and rural communities. The geographic scope of the CCAPP Academy reaches from Imperial County in Southern California to as far north as Modoc County. In 2020, classes moved to an online forum.