National accreditation through the New York-based Council on Accreditation (COA).
This is a significant achievement for our organization and one we are extremely proud of accomplishing. COA accreditation affirms that an organization meets the highest national standards of best practice and establishes the organization’s credibility as effective and professionally sound in the field of human services. In addition, it provides assurance to all our stakeholders that Azleway is delivering needed, high-quality services in our community, conducting its operations successfully, and managing its funds effectively.
COA accreditation is an objective, independent, and reliable validation of an agency’s performance. The COA accreditation process involves a detailed review and analysis of an organization’s administration, management, and service delivery functions against international standards of best practice. The standards driving accreditation ensure that services are well-coordinated, culturally competent, evidence-based, outcomes-oriented, and provided by a skilled and supported workforce. 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.
Founded in 1977, COA is an independent, not-for-profit accreditor of the full continuum of community-based behavioral health care and social service organizations in the United States and Canada. Over 2,000 organizations — voluntary, public, and proprietary; local and statewide; large and small — have either successfully achieved COA accreditation or are currently engaged in the process. Presently, COA has a total of 47 service standards that are applicable to over 125 different types of programs. To learn more about COA, please visit www.coanet.org.
To achieve COA accreditation, Azleway first provided written evidence of compliance with the COA standards. After that, a group of specially trained volunteer Peer Reviewers confirmed adherence to these standards during a series of on-site interviews with trustees, staff and clients. Based on their findings, COA’s volunteer-based Accreditation Commission voted that Azleway had successfully met the criteria for accreditation.
Although the formal part of the accreditation process has been completed, our work is far from over. COA accreditation is not an end in and of itself. Rather, it is a process by which our organization can consistently strive for and achieve new levels of excellence.
