
ABOUT COA

MISSION

The Council on Accreditation (COA) partners with human service organisations worldwide to improve service delivery outcomes by developing, applying, and promoting accreditation standards.

VISION

COA envisions excellence in the delivery of human services globally, resulting in the well-being of individuals, families, and communities.

HISTORY AND ACTIVITIES

COA is an international, independent, not-for-profit, child- and family-service and behavioural healthcare accrediting organisation. It was founded in 1977 by the Child Welfare League of America and Family Service America (now the Alliance for Children and Families). Originally known as an accrediting body for family and children's agencies, COA currently accredits over 45 different service areas. Among the service areas are substance abuse treatment, adult day care, services for the homeless, foster care, and inter-country adoption.

In addition to standards for private social service and behavioural health care organisations, COA has developed separate business lines for public agencies, networks and lead management entities, opioid treatment programmes, employee assistance programmes, and financial management/debt counselling services.

COA views accreditation as a catalyst for change that builds on an organisation's strengths and helps it achieve better results in all areas. The accreditation process is designed to meet the needs of diverse organisations. An organisation is evaluated against best-practice standards, which are developed using a consensus model with input from a wide range of service providers, funders, experts, policymakers and consumers.

In 2005, COA accredited or was in the process of accrediting more than 1,500 private and public organisations that serve more that 7 million individuals and families in the United States, Canada, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, England and the Philippines. The accreditation process is designed to meet the needs of diverse organisations--voluntary, public and proprietary, local and provincial, large and small. Currently, 34% of COA-accredited agencies have a budget of less than $2 million; the budget of another 44% is between $2 and $10 million.

THE VALUE OF ACCREDITATION

In our current outcomes-oriented environment, organisations are increasingly called upon to demonstrate the impact of their services. Accreditation is designed to be a framework within which an organisation can measure a variety of its achievements.

The value and credibility of COA accreditation are formally recognised in over one hundred distinct instances in forty-four different states, the District of Columbia, as well as British Columbia, Canada. Additionally, the U.S. Department of State has designated COA as the sole national independent accreditor for organisations providing inter-country adoption services in the United States that work with sending countries that have ratified the Hague Treaty.

To find out more about COA and the accreditation process, please visit our website at www.coanet.org.