CCHO and our family of ministries have recently completed a rigorous reaccreditation process with an independent international accrediting body called Council on Accreditation (COA). Implementing COA standards means our organization is among the best in the field. We are proud to be a part of this community of excellence.
CCHO President and CEO Kevin Hewitt says, “We are so pleased to be affirmed by COA as we head into the celebration of our 50th anniversary year in 2019. Led by our continuous quality improvement team, CCHO actively engages staff members in reviewing and refining policies and procedures so we can realize our vision to be the partner of choice, providing services that transform lives, families and communities. Many thanks to John Smith, director of continuous quality improvement, and his team, for leading this important project over the last 16 months.”
Accreditation is the formal evaluation of an organization or program against best practice standards. It is both a status and a process. As a status, it signifies we meet the high standards of quality set forth by the accrediting body. As a process, it involves an in-depth self-review of an organization or program against currently accepted best practice standards, an onsite visit by an evaluation team comprised of experts, and a subsequent review and decision by the accrediting body.
COA’s team of experts spent weeks in advance of their on-site visit pouring over hundreds of documents prepared for their review. Then the team (made up of experts in the field from Florida, New York and Alberta, Canada) traveled to our campus to experience our work firsthand through observation and interviews followed by more document examination giving evidence of what we do. During their four-day site visit, they interviewed board members, staff at all levels of the organization, children in our residential program, foster families and clients in our outpatient programs. They also visited our downtown Wooster office as well as our Massillon location.
One peer reviewer, a 40-year veteran in the human services industry who has conducted 115 assessments, followed up with an email to our staff: “… It was a very enjoyable site visit. Please let everyone know how much I appreciated their cooperation. It helped to renew my faith. Again many, many thanks.” This message sums up why we do what we do: To help people experience their worth in Christ.
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