During the past three years, Santa Fe Community College (Florida) has designed and implemented an experimental competency-based program in human services training with a specialization in substance abuse counseling that meets the needs of atypical adult students and also the accountability demands of the academic community. Both a residential component and an external-degree component have been structured and carried out and criteria for evaluation of life experiences for academic credit have been established. The first program component involved recruiting 23 persons from substance abuse agencies, who were stipended and taught in experimental/didactic fashion. Another component of the program--a non-resident component--was based upon three premises: (1) taking into consideration the previous life experiences of the students; (2) not requiring them to leave their jobs to attend an educational institution; and (3) upgrading their level of competency. The model for instruction required that each student attend a three-hour seminar or learning laboratory in his community to work with a learning facilitator on demonstrating mastery in 48 specific helping skills or understandings. The 48 credits were human service and substance abuse credits toward an associate of science degree in human services. An additional 12 credits in general education were required. (MB)