EAGLE Recognized now as an Approved Accreditor for QRTPs Under the Family First Prevention Services Act

On May 15, it was announced that EAGLE Accreditation Program is recognized by the Department of Health and Human Services as an approved accreditor for Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTPs) under the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA). As we have discussed here, FFPSA, which passed in February 2018, allows federal funds to be spent on preventative services to help keep families together and also restricts funding on congregate care or group homes for children and youth who require removal from their families. In part, FFPSA mandates that all residential treatment providers convert to QRTPs, a new licensing category, in order to be eligible for reimbursement through Title IV-E foster care funds after the first two weeks of child placement.

One of the requirements to become a QRTP is to be accredited by CARF, COA, The Joint Commission and now, for the first time, EAGLE Accreditation.

EAGLE, which stands for Educational Assessment Guidelines Leading toward Excellence, is the only faith-based accrediting body in the country. It focuses on ministries serving older adults, children, youth and families, and those with developmental disabilities with emphasis on excellence, quality and how applicant organizations incorporate their Christian mission, religious heritage and values throughout the organization and its daily operations. EAGLE accreditation has provided an option for faith-based organizations since 1984.

The EAGLE Accreditation Program is operated by the United Methodist Association of Health and Welfare Ministries (UMA).

“We are proud of this recognition for EAGLE,” said Mary Kemper, president and CEO of UMA. “As an accreditor of faith-based organizations for more than 40 years, EAGLE has a solid history of promoting excellence with the added focus on organizations’ faith-based mission, vision and values.”

For questions about EAGLE or other accrediting bodies and for assistance preparing your organization to become a Qualified Residential Treatment Program, please contact Accreditation Guru at Info@AccreditationGuru.com.

For more information about FFPSA, visit our FFPSA Resource Page and blog.

For full press release click here.

Meet Our Newest Team Member!

Please help us give a warm welcome to our newest team member, Dave Branding, PhD!

With more than 40 years of administrative, executive leadership and board governance experience in a variety of health and human service organizations, integrated delivery systems and health plans, Dave has served as a provider, purchaser and funder. He specializes in achieving and maintaining accreditation, improving risk management practices and creating supportive accountability systems.

Working at CARF International for more than 12 years, Dave has led more than 120 accreditation surveys across 40 states and provinces as an administrative and program surveyor, team leader and report-writer for the Behavioral Health, Opioid Treatment Program, Employment and Community Support and Business and Services Management Network standard manuals. He also serves on CARF’s appeal and review boards.

In addition to administering several million dollars in grant funding, he has delivered dozens of conference program presentations and participated in more than 20 statewide and national policy and practice improvement initiatives.

Dave earned a Doctorate in Education and Master of Arts degree, along with a certificate in transition planning, from Southern Illinois University. He received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Central Michigan University.

We are thrilled to have Dave on our team!

Team Member Highlight – Carol Smith

Carol started her accreditation career in 1980 when she implemented a substance abuse outpatient and prevention program for the State of Michigan Office of Substance Abuse Services. For more than a year,
Carol prepared the agency for its first national accreditation survey and began implementing policies and procedures during a time when the behavioral health field lacked clearly defined standards. After
achieving accreditation, she became a consultant and specialized in helping agencies navigate the CARF and The Joint Commission accreditation processes.

Carol has an extensive career in the field of accreditation, specifically with CARF. She has been a CARF surveyor for 28 years and has served on several ISAC’s (International Standards Advisory Committee) to help revise and develop new standards. She has provided training on accreditation topics both to an international audience and to new CARF surveyors and is a content editor of survey reports, and serves on the CARF accreditation appeal board.

Carol spends free time with her husband, her pug, and two cats in northern Michigan. She enjoys walking on the beach, traveling, gardening, reading and spending time at her winter home in southeastern Florida.

We are happy to have Carol on the Accreditation Guru team!

Team Member Highlight – Tracy Collander

Tracy Collander

Tracy first became familiar with the accreditation world when she began working for Gateway Foundation in 2007.  Gateway Foundation is accredited by The Joint Commission, and she became familiar with TJC behavioral health accreditation during her 6 years as executive director for Gateway Aurora.

Her knowledge of accreditation became much stronger as she became Executive Director of The Joint Commissions Behavioral Health accreditation program, as she had the opportunity to work closely with the accreditation team, behavioral healthcare leaders, and advisory members.  Now that she is back in the field, she continues to value accreditation as a road map to leading a safe, high quality organization.  She believes this is critical for engaging a team that is invested in providing the best care possible to people in need.  Her Joint Commission experience has been so valuable to her as a leader – it reinforces her resolve to provide the best possible leadership to her team in support of the care that people deserve to receive.

She enjoys spending time with her two teenage boys, husband, and dog.  Her boys are both involved in sports, so much of their free time is spent cheering on their baseball/basketball teams locally or on the road.  When at home, they love watching movies together or hanging out with friends.

She also enjoys outdoor activities – gardening, walking her dog, running, golfing…boating when they have a chance to get to a lake… hiking when she visits her brother in Oregon or sister in Arizona…and skiing when it snows in the Midwest or when they travel to visit her siblings.  Both her husband and Tracy are from big families, so there is often a birthday, holiday, or other event to celebrate as well!

When she has downtime, she loves to read (or listen to books on Audible when driving), particularly suspense books, historical fiction novels, and leadership books.

We are happy to have Tracy on the Accreditation Guru team!

Meet Our Newest Accreditation Guru Team Member

Viviane Ngwa

We are happy to announce that Viviane Ngwa — a Clinical Social Worker, is joining Accreditation Guru as our newest Accreditation Consultant!

Viviane Ngwa
She comes with leadership experience in the provision of services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, services to youth with juvenile probation involvement as well as extensive experience in child welfare and behavioral health service structure across many states.

Viviane is a current member of the Board of Directors of Family Focused Treatment Association (FFTA) and a past Board President. She was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Council on Accreditation (COA) where she currently serves on the Standards Committee and the Board Development Committee. She has been a COA Peer Reviewer Team Leader and a Hague Evaluator for many years leading numerous accreditation site visits across the United States and Canada.

Viviane is a wonderful addition to our growing team!!

Meet Our Newest Accreditation Guru Team Member

Tracy Collander

We are happy to announce that Tracy Collander, LCSW a nationally regarded accreditation expert, is joining Accreditation Guru as our newest Accreditation Consultant! A former executive with The Joint Commission, she brings deep knowledge and experience to her position as accreditation consultant.
Tracy Collander
A leader in the behavioral health field for more than 25 years, Tracy has amassed extensive experience in child welfare, addiction treatment, psychiatric inpatient treatment, and community mental health services.

Her credentials include serving as executive director of behavioral health, Linden Oaks at Northwest Community Healthcare, and as executive director of the Behavioral Health Accreditation program at The Joint Commission, one of the largest accreditation agencies in the country.

Tracy is a wonderful addition to our growing team!!

Time is Tight: Seek Accreditation Now for QRTPs [as Mandated by the Family First Prevention Services Act]

The new Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) has generated many questions about the timing of when each state will decide to implement the regulations and, in turn, when the new category of residential settings called Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTPs) are required to become nationally accredited. Accreditation for qualified residential treatment programs has thus become a hot topic for such centers.

FFPSA is changing the face of child welfare by authorizing federal dollars to support prevention services for children identified as being in “imminent risk” of entering foster care. It also shifts the focus from relying on congregate or group care settings to keeping children in family-like atmospheres – specifically foster family homes.

Under FFPSA, with limited exceptions, states will be able to dedicate federal Title IV-E funding for children’s care maintenance payments in a residential setting after the first two weeks of placement. Approved settings, including the new QRTPs, must use a trauma-informed treatment model and employ registered or licensed nursing staff and other licensed clinical staff who are onsite according to the treatment model and  available 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

The law institutes other requirements related to formal assessments of children that ensure the appropriateness of the placement, family engagement and aftercare support for at least six months post-discharge. For additional information, visit: http://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/family-first-prevention-services-act-ffpsa.aspx

States’ Decisions – To Delay or Not Delay?

FFPSA specifies that to be considered as an official QRTP, the program must be licensed and accredited by a Department of Health and Human Services-approved accreditation agency: Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations or Council on Accreditation (COA) by October 1, 2019, unless a state requests a delay for up to two years.

States are presently weighing their options to request a delay or “opt-in” to comply with the new restrictions regarding reimbursement. States must submit their request to the HHS Children’s Bureau by November 9, 2018 if they intend to delay the effective dates of certain provisions in the Family First act. However, states may still change their decision after their plan has been submitted, so nothing is definitive at this point – except that QRTPs will need to become accredited.

A number of service providers are opting to wait and see if their state will delay the effective dates with the hope that this will provide additional time to become nationally accredited. However, a delay in accreditation for qualified residential treatment programs is a gamble on the service provider’s future.

“I recommend that non-family-based care providers like group homes or residential programs who wish to become a licensed QRTP, begin the process of accreditation now,” said Leslie Ellis-Lang, Managing Director, Child and Youth Services at CARF. “It is the safest action.”

Accreditation for Qualified Residential Treatment Programs

Most service providers require 12 to 18 months or more to become nationally accredited. With the initial effective date of October 1, 2019 one year away (unless a state delays enactment), there is still some time to complete the process.

To meet the FFPSA deadline, organizations must consider the time necessary to:

  • Select an accrediting body
  • Secure budgetary allotment and board approval
  • Develop accreditation-required plans, including an organization-wide strategic plan, among others
  • Prepare standards-compliant policies, procedures and protocols
  • Implement accreditation standards (both CARF and COA require six months of conformance with standards before an onsite survey may take place; Joint Commission does not require this “look back”)
  • Make operational, service delivery and facilities improvements, as necessary
  • Prepare staff and board members for the accrediting body’s onsite survey

Accreditors’ Efforts and Deadlines

Under such a sweeping federal mandate as FFPSA, thousands of organizations throughout the United States will apply for accreditation at the same time, which can strain the capacity of the accrediting bodies.

The good news is that each of the three (presently) approved agencies (CARF, COA, Joint Commission) have been proactively preparing for this onslaught of new applicants by increasing their operational staff and adding surveyors to conduct the onsite reviews.

Yet each accrediting body has its own timeline, based on when applications are due and the scheduling of onsite surveys. Regardless of which body is selected, an organization should generally estimate that it will take at least 12 months to achieve accreditation.

In order to complete the process and receive accreditation by October 1, 2019, organizations must submit their application and deposit by the following deadlines:

CARF:

CARF recommends that organizations choosing to use the 2018 Child and Youth standards for their survey and wanting to be notified of their outcome prior to October 1, 2019, should submit their application by December 31, 2018.

COA:

COA’s application deadline for organizations working toward the October 1, 2019 benchmark is November 19, 2018.

Also, in October 2018, COA will provide an application fee refund (in the form of a credit against future fees) for organizations that are mandated by FFPSA and are pursuing accreditation for the first time. An organization must complete its initial application by October 3 and fully execute an accreditation agreement by October 31, 2018 in order to receive this benefit.

The Joint Commission:

To complete the accreditation process and receive a Joint Commission accreditation award by October 1, 2019, organizations are “strongly encouraged” to submit an application and deposit by December 31, 2018 with a request for onsite survey (“ready date”) of no later than April 1, 2019.

Regardless if a state decides to opt-in or delay the FFPSA regulation and requirement for QRTPs, all service providers are strongly encouraged to begin the road to national accreditation as soon as possible. No matter what a particular state decides to do, the mandate is here to stay. Don’t gamble on your organization’s future!

 

Accreditation Guru is available to assist in the accreditation for qualified residential treatment programs, child welfare and behavioral healthcare organizations nationwide as they navigate the road to accreditation in an efficient and streamlined manner. For more information, contact us at Info@AccreditationGuru.com.

 

Add “Donate Now” Button on Facebook in Time for #GivingTuesday

The giving season is right around the corner and now is the time to be sure that your nonprofit is ready spread your mission and acquire those much needed donations this holiday season!

Celebrating its fourth year on December 1, #GivingTuesday will bring people and organizations from around the world together for one common purpose – to celebrate generosity and to give. Founded in 2012 by New York’s 92nd Street Y, in collaboration with the United Nations Foundation, #GivingTuesday now engages more than 30,000 organizations globally through the power of social media and collaboration. According to GivingTuesday.org, since the first #GivingTuesday, online donations on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving have seen an increase of more than 470%! Nonprofits cannot afford not to get in on this extraordinary opportunity.

One way to do this is to take advantage of Facebook’s recently launched “Donate Now” call-to-action button available (free of charge) for nonprofits to add to their Facebook pages and link ads that will connect donors directly with an organization’s donation page, making it faster and easier to donate than ever before. Many nonprofits already realize and take advantage of the value of a strong social following; by adding the “Donate Now” option, nonprofits are able to more readily turn online engagement into meaningful monetary support.

Here are our tips for making the most of these two giving opportunities:

  • Planning and preparation are key – assemble your fundraising team and begin planning now to inspire generosity
  • Add a #GivingTuesday message to your nonprofit’s website, Facebook page and other social media outlets to build momentum and reach all of your followers
  • Use the #GivingTuesday hashtag in your nonprofit’s Tweets – this will make your organization discoverable to anyone searching #GivingTuesday
  • Don’t consider #GivingTuesday as a one-day event – begin December 2 by connecting with your newly acquired and existing donors sharing the results of their generosity and how it will impact those you serve – in other words, create goodwill
  • Always engage and thank your valued donors – not just on #GivingTuesday – but the whole year through; long-term relationships can last a lifetime
  • While monetary donations are crucial for nonprofits, we can’t underscore the importance of volunteer efforts – encourage donors to get creative and give time for volunteering; those who can’t afford a monetary donation may be inspired to contribute in this way, making it a win-win for everyone involved
  • Reference your “Donate Now” button in your Facebook and other social media communications and dedicate specific content that make users aware of the button and perhaps how donations will be used
  • Pay attention to who is taking advantage of the “Donate Now” option; as with any campaign, information is key and analyzing and understanding who these givers are will go a long way in helping your nonprofit build sustaining donors

Free tools and resources for #GivingTuesday can be found at www.GivingTuesday.org.

 

Using #GivingTuesday to Spread Your Message

#GivingTuesday is a day when people and organizations from all over the globe come together to give back. On the first Tuesday following Thanksgiving, people around the world will unite for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give. For nonprofit agencies that want to spread the word about their mission and secure sustainable donors, this is an opportunity not to be missed.

Founded in 2012 by New York’s 92nd Street Y in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, #GivingTuesday has become a global movement that has engaged over 10,000 organizations worldwide. Free to all nonprofit agencies, #GivingTuesday will provide you with all of the resources you need to take advantage of this extraordinary day.

Here are some examples of how your nonprofit can benefit from participating in #GivingTuesday:

  • Launch a new fundraiser or giving platform with national/international press to expand and generate greater funds
  • Celebrate efforts and announce totals on #GivingTuesday
  • Send online and direct marketing communications to donor community to inspire early giving
  • Activate your social media constituency – or start one! – for a social media campaign
  • Get a matching grant or offer something new (a new video or photos) for donors
  • Create a volunteer day for giving back in your community

The possibilities truly are endless. For additional information, visit www.GivingTuesday.org.

How do you plan to participate in #GivingTuesday? Please share your ideas here.