from
the Council on Accreditation (COA), a national association that accredits
public agencies and private providers of financial management and debt
counseling. The rigorous accreditation process lets our clients and our
community know that we provide the highest standard of service and run a
well-managed and responsible organization.
Recent studies by the U.S. General Accounting Office and
COA researchers found that accredited agencies and organizations enjoy
significant benefits over non-accredited agencies. The GAO report cited the
success of two COA-accredited state agencies in retaining staff and
delivering services. The COA report found that accredited agencies had
superior risk management, personnel evaluation and corrective action
processes in place – all three key requirements for delivering quality
services.
Semiahmoo House Society was ACCREDITED for a term of 4
years, the highest award given by COA in January, following a 2 ½ year
intensive accreditation process and review by a team of peer professionals.
We deliberately chose to take a longer period of time to prepare for this
review so that our organization would grow and learn to be the best it could
be. All members in our organization should be proud for continuing to
provide the highest quality care.
COA is an international,
independent, not-for-profit, human services accrediting organization.
Founded in 1977 by the Child Welfare
League of America and Family Service America, COA promotes best practice
standards; champions quality services for children, youth, and families; and
advocates for the value of accreditation. COA accredits close to 1,600
public and private organizations in the United States and Canada that
provide behavioral healthcare services, child welfare services, employee
assistance program (EAP) services, financial management/debt counseling
services, and many other service areas for which no other accreditor has
standards.
COA accreditation is a process of
evaluating an organization against best practice standards. COA develops
standards by using a consensus model with input from service providers,
funders, policymakers and consumers across the United States and Canada. The
standards represent up-to-date research findings, regulations, and practice
experience that together serve to define quality organizational practice.
For more information, visit
www.coanet.org.
