COA - Council On Accreditation

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are employment-related services provided internally or under a contract or arrangement with an employer, union, or organization designed to assist employees and eligible participants to establish and maintain health and wellness, and identify and address problems that interfere with work productivity or cause behavioral difficulties.

Note: Depending on the services an EAP provides, the organization may be required to complete one or more additional service sections, such as: Counseling, Support, and Education Services; Outpatient Mental Health Services; Case Management; Services for Substance Use Conditions; or Crisis Response and Information Services.

Note: Please see Self-Paced_Training: Employee Assistance Program Services (EAP) in the Tools Index for additional assistance with this standard.


	PURPOSE: Employee Assistance Programs help organizations support employees working to maintain or improve their productivity, functioning, and pro-social behavior and remain at or return to the workplace.

RELATED FILES

EAP Reference List.pdf
NA Request.doc
EAP Private Template.doc


	EMPLOYEE Paid member of an organization. Foster parents are not considered employees and are specifically referenced in relevant standards.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	CONTRACT A formal written agreement between two or more parties that specifies the services, space, or products to be provided in exchange for some form of compensation. Also known as "purchase of service arrangement."


	ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS Those individuals (i.e., spouse, significant other, child, grandchild, step-child, or adopted child for whom the employee is legally responsible) who meet criteria to receive paid benefits and the services provided by the EAP.


	CASE A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organization for purposes of monitoring the provision of services. A foster care case is generally based on the placement of an individual child, although casework for the child may include services to the child's family. A child protective services case is based on an entire family household if a family assessment model is used; otherwise a case is defined as a child.


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION