Richmond Society for Community Living

Accreditation

RSCL Receives 3-year Accreditation Award

On May 16 - 18, 2005, surveyors from the CARF Accrediting body came and visited the offices and programs of RSCL and awarded the three-year accreditation, the highest level. The following are some of their comments from the final report:

Richmond Society for Community Living demonstrates strengths in the following areas:

• Staff members and the administrators are energetic, compassionate, knowledgeable, and committed to serving the needs of children, youths, adults with challenging disabilities and their family members. The organization hires and retains individuals who clearly meet and exceed qualifications. It is obvious that there is mutual respect among persons served and staff members.

• Attention to person-centered sendees-and responsiveness to individual needs are readily apparent. Parents, persons served, and referral sources consistently indicate a high degree of satisfaction with service provision.

• Wonderfully bright and spacious service sites for both children and adults reflect Richmond Society’s commitment to the creation of colorful, motivating environments well suited to the continued growth and development of each child, youth, and adult.

• Richmond Society has a long history of providing dedicated, caring services to individuals with developmental disabilities. Throughout its history, the organization has been guided by a group of dedicated members of the board of directors, one half of whom are parents.

• Funders are impressed with the professional sendees provided by staff members. This is evidenced by Richmond Society being recently awarded a rather substantial new contract for expanded services, which was received through a very competitive review process.

• Although turnover at some entry level positions has been a concern and recruitment for replacements is challenged by funding cutbacks, key management positions have a long history with the organization and continue to move sendees forward.

In the following area Richmond Society for Community Living demonstrates exemplary conformance to the standards.

• Commitment to innovative, comprehensive wraparound service provision is clearly demonstrated in each of the community services. Despite severe challenges to funding opportunities in British Columbia, Richmond Society is commended for the ongoing development of creative and innovative sendees.

Accreditation – what is it?

You may have heard the term floating around, but do you know what it is? Here are a few frequently asked questions concerning accreditation:

What is it?

Accreditation is a formal process of organizational development and review. Once the process is completed, it identifies that an agency has met organizational and program/service standards of practice. Accreditation focuses on the quality of services delivered, accountability, and overall organizational competence.

Who will be accredited?

As part of the BC Government’s Ministry of Children and Family Development project, all Society’s that receive funding from the Ministry, must go through this accreditation process in order to continue with their contracts.

Why be accredited?

It just makes sense. Being accredited means that an agency has met international standards of practice that are developed by impartial consumers, stakeholders, professionals, and provincial and national organizations. Being an accredited agency means that the agency provides services and programs that meet or exceed industry standards. It makes the agency accountable for the services they provide.

What are the benefits of accreditation?

- accreditation identifies organizations in which consumers can have confidence;

- provides evidence to the community that the organization providing service has met high standards of operation;

- identifies for private and public funders organizations that are worthy of financial support;

- generates information upon which an effective organizational referral system can be built;

- establishes a framework for continual organizational improvement

- projects the organization against pressures to lower standards.

How do you get accredited?

There are 4 stages of accreditation:

Application – submitted by the organization to the accreditation body;
Self-Survey – a mock survey done by an outside person to help the organization prepare for the real thing;
Site Visit – the real thing – the review and report by the accreditation body;
Accreditation decision – the evaluation by the accreditation body.

Accreditation Body’s provide those organizations seeking accreditation with manuals of all standards that must be met. Organizations seeking accreditation must provide evidence that each standard is met.

Where does Richmond Society for Community Living fit in?

RSCL was accredited by the CARF (The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities ) accreditation body and received the highest award of 3-years on May 16, 17, and 18th 2005.

The Accreditation process is not over. It is an ongoing process to ensure that RSCL continues to meet the standards. RSCL continues to work hard to maintain and to improve our society practices and to gather all evidence to support the accreditation standards. RSCL has established many accreditation committees in order to facilitate the process. There has been an incredible amount of support from all involved, including line staff and board members. Accreditation can seem overwhelming, however, we at RSCL believe that it is in our best interests to continue with the accreditation ongoing process as it will only improve our programs and services and relationships with those we serve. We understand that even the smallest things are vital to the overall competency of the organization.

How can you help?

RSCL welcomes your input and feedback on any of our programs and services and the way we do business. We will be sending out surveys and requesting interviews with families and friends and from the individuals we serve. If you would like more information, please check the government website at www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/accreditation.