On July 31, 2007, Kids Central was the 2nd lead agency in the State of Florida to achieve Network Accreditation with the Council on Accreditation (COA). COA partners with human service organizations worldwide to improve service delivery outcomes by developing, applying, and promoting accreditation standards.
COA envisions excellence in the delivery of human services globally, resulting in the well-being of individuals, families, and communities. COA accredits for-profit companies and public agencies at the state, county and municipal levels. At present, five state-administered child welfare systems – Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee, and West Virginia – have been accredited by COA, while others are in the process. While most organizations are located in the United States, they can also be found in Canada, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, England, and the Philippines.
There are many benefits for organizations that achieve and maintain accreditation status with COA, including:
- Offers national and external validation of performance;
- Helps to focus, track, and package good service and management practices that an organization uses to operate daily;
- Builds infrastructure to support excellence in performance;
- Expresses concept standards and encourages work in measureable program output language;
- Has positive impact on the workforce and on accountability;
- Builds accountability in management by using a qualitative Self-Study process;
- Demonstrates evidence-based practices;
- Provides measurement tools in the form of administrative and service standards;
- Documents practice through Self-Studies;
- Establishes credibility that the organization is effective and professionally sound;
- Demonstrates accountability in management of resources;
- Constitutes a facilitative process;
- Supports positive outcomes;
- Aligns with other performance models used in human services (i.e., Children and Family Service Review and Baldrige);
- Builds staff morale;
- Provides an external review conducted by experts from around the country and, if appropriate, validates the agency’s documentation of performance as outlined in the Self-Study;
- Placed the organization in a strong competitive position;
- Shows a high degree of commitment to comparing agency practices to national standards;
- Supports federal measures and provides evidence-based documentation for consent decrees;
- Sets standardized best practice thresholds for service and administration;
- Creates a framework for ongoing performance quality improvement;
In April 2010, Kids Central launched its bid for reaccreditation as a Network provider as well as the accreditation of four (4) programs/services, Kinship Care Services, Post Adoption Support Services and Licensing (Foster Home Licensing and Relicensing) and Youth Independent Living Services (YIL) which was initially accredited in October of 2009. The On-Site visit for reaccreditation was held on May 2, 2011 and Final Accreditation Report is expected to be received in September 2011.
Foster Care – Licensing, Placement and Respite Care
Foster Care is excited to announce their accreditation through the Council on Accreditation (COA) on August 31, 2011. This national recognition demonstrates our commitment to setting the highest level of standards. COA described our foster care program as well-run with great staff and wonderful foster parents as well as having a lot of training and support.
Kinship Care
Kinship Care is proud to have received accreditation through the Council on Accreditation (COA) on August 31, 2011. This is a demonstration of the Kinship Care Program’s commitment to setting high standards and delivering quality services for the children and families they serve. COA described our Kinship Care program as a wonderful addition to the continuum of care for children in out of home placements and is greatly appreciated by service recipients.
Youth Independent Living
They Youth Independent Living (YIL) program is delighted to announce its reaccreditation through the Council on Accreditation (COA) on August 31, 2011. COA reported that this program is evidence of the organization’s commitment to the full continuum of care for the children who are touched by their services. The staff are very attentive to the needs of the youth served and have many success stories to share. The YIL program continues to demonstrate high standards in their quality of services to the youth they serve.
Post Adoption Support Services
Post Adoption Placement’s Support Services program is pleased to announce their accreditation through the Council on Accreditation (COA) on August 31, 2011. COA reviewers stated it was evident the staff care deeply about the families that have adopted children and see the service as essential in the overall continuum of services to high risk children. The staff are accessible and responsive to the needs of adoptive parents who reach out to them in support groups.
COA’s 8th Edition Accreditation Standards which are based on national best practice guidelines can be found here.
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