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R I S E

R R E S PE C T

RESPECT: How We Earn It and How We Give It.

RESPECT underlies everything we do at Family & Children Services. highly skilled staff; the praise community stakeholders shared about
It is the cornerstone of our every relationship—whether those are our organization; the rich diversity of our teams; our evidence-based
relationships that we nurture and sustain between staff members programming; continuous quality improvement practices; and Lean
and business partners or in the relationships we so carefully build Management. They were impressed that our clients were given
with our service recipients. copies of case notes, something they had not seen among our peers,

There is no greater honor, surely, than to be recognized for the and determined to recommend this to other organizations as an
respect we give than to earn that respect in return. example to follow.

In January 2020, we received the news that we have earned high praise
by COA, the Council on Accreditation. COA is a nationally recognized,
independent accreditor of community-based behavioral health care
and social service organizations. When they review organizations for
accreditation, COA looks at quality, risk management, continuous
improvement, transparency and accountability, and recognition. In
other words, the COA evaluates an organization or program against
best practice standards.

We were especially gratified by the feedback from our service
recipients. A mother told the COA team that she would have lost her
children without the help she received through our services. Another
mom talked about the meaningful relationship she and her children
have developed with our caseworker, and that her eldest son is now
teaching some of the life skills he’s learned to younger siblings.
Another young woman talked about the help she received to get her
life back on track—she has been able to break free from an abusive
relationship and is now able to look for work. She thanks Family &
To earn this accreditation, a national team from COA conducted Children Services for all of it.
interviews with staff members, board members, supervisors, staff,
community partners, and service recipients. The team reviewed our This is what we do. And we do it with respect. We treat each and
programs and services, visited our facilities, and examined case every Family & Children Services client with the dignity and respect
records and other documents. They also evaluated our administrative every person deserves—and it makes a difference. The respect we
and management practices. have received in return, earning us accreditation for excellence in
our work, is an honor we wear with pride and intend to earn again
Feedback from COA included commentary on the dedication, and again in future years.
passion and pride that we have in our jobs; our well-trained and

“The organization has earned the community’s trust, respect, and support. It operates with integrity and strong
ethics that are aligned with their mission… We are proud to be associated with you and your colleagues. We wish
you the very best in your continuing service to persons in your community. That is the power of accreditation.”
­ —­President­and­Chief­Executive­Officer,­Council­on­Accreditation
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