WHERE DO WE BEGIN?

The decision to seek COA accreditation should be made with the full knowledge that a commitment of resources - financial and personnel - will be necessary, as well as a willingness to conduct a comprehensive organizational assessment that examines the organization's capacity in such areas as Governance and Leadership, Financial Resource Management, Human Resource Management, Community Linkages, Cultural Competencies, and Performance Implementation and Outcomes.

Whether you've already made the decision to seek COA accreditation or whether you're still considering the benefits, here are a few recommended steps:

• Visit COA's website www.coanet.org to gain information and an understanding of the Council on Accreditation.
• If you haven't already applied, speak with a member of COA's Client Relations department to determine whether COA is the appropriate choice for your organization. They will provide an information packet and application for your review.
• Familiarize yourself with COA's Accreditation Policies and Procedures Manual (see Related Files) which cover all of the accreditation policies and procedures under which COA operates.
• Develop a presentation for your governing body that describes the merits of accreditation and how COA accreditation is a valuable component of their fiduciary duty.
• Educate your staff about the many benefits COA accreditation offers that will support their commitment to quality practice and the organization's dedication to excellence.
• Discuss the process, the standards, and the commitment that is required to achieve COA accreditation with your stakeholders.
• Assess your ability to implement the standards, including those standards that are fundamental to become COA-accredited.
• Let your service recipients know that COA accreditation affirms your commitment to providing them with the very best services. Tell them that when it comes to their needs, Good enough is not good enough!

To allow private organizations to benchmark their performance with that of a larger cohort of our private organizations, COA also recommends that you review the Private Organization Performance Profile.

"Benchmarking is the search for a field's best practices that lead to superior performance.”
- Robert Camp, a leader in benchmarking

Benchmarking is the process of comparing your performance with other organizations. This profile provides information on how private organizations that recently completed their site visits (PCR ratings) are performing against COA’s Administration and Management and Service Delivery Administration standards. This real-time information:

• facilitates learning by new applicants and aids in their assessment of their ability to implement COA’s standards;
• provides critical mass that is needed to help private organizations seeking accreditation/re-accreditation to effectively target and prioritize accreditation strategies; and
• enables benchmarking by private organizations, both new applicants and applicants for re-accreditation, of their post-site visit performance with that of other private organizations.