Advocates for Children accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA)
In August 2020, Advocates for Children achieved national accreditation through the New York-based Council on Accreditation (COA). COA accreditation is an objective, independent, and reliable validation of an agency’s performance. The accreditation process involves a detailed review and analysis of an organization’s administration, management, and service delivery functions against international standards of best practice. COA accreditation demonstrates accountability in the management of resources, sets standardized best practice thresholds for service and administration, and increases organizational capacity and accountability by creating a framework for ongoing quality improvement.
It took our dedicated staff 12 months to prepare and implement the policies and procedures needed to achieve accreditation. Advocates for Children chose to pursue accreditation to demonstrate the organization’s implementation of best practice standards in the field of human services over the past 37 years. Our organization was founded by community leaders as a single program, Flowering Branch Children’s Shelter, in 1983 and has since grown to contain 8 different programs and serve 11 different counties and over 13,000 people a year. Accreditation from COA proves that our best practices and policies are equipped to handle the number of clients we have and prepare us for growth in the future.
“Advocates for Children chose to pursue accreditation to help build a strong foundation for any growth or changes in our programs,” says Rachel Castillo, President/CEO. “Everyone at Advocates took part in this process, from the Board, Senior Leadership, department managers to team members at every level. This was truly a team effort!”
To learn more about COA accreditation, visit https://coanet.org/.
