COA - Council On Accreditation

	Juvenile Justice Corrections Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

Service Narrative (PA-JJC):

Part 1: Program Information

Agencies may complete one template for all programs, or a separate template that addresses each program being reviewed under this section. Provide responses in each box provided.

Agencies being accredited for the first time: Please provide information for the last year.

Agencies being reaccredited: Please provide information for the period since the last accreditation review.

1. Describe any significant changes, challenges, awards received, changes in funding, or obstacles faced by the agency.

2. Provide an overview of the different program(s) being accredited under this section. The overview should describe:

the programs' service philosophy and approach to delivering services;
eligibility criteria;
any unique programs or special services provided to specific populations;
major funding streams; and
any additional information referenced in the Table of Evidence.

3. If service components are provided to persons and families through contract in cooperation with other agencies or through a formal, coordinated service delivery system provide a list that identifies the providers and the services for which they are responsible. Do not include services provided by referral.

4. Provide any other information your agency would like the peer review team to know about these programs.

Attachments

A list of all program sites, including the following information for each program site: a) name of program/site director; b) address; c) phone number; d) hours of operation; e) number of FTEs; f) average monthly number of clients served; and g) directions or a map to each program site from the main agency office
A demographic profile of persons and families served by the program(s) being reviewed under this service section with percentages representing the following: a) racial and ethnic characteristics; b) gender; c) age; d) major religious groups; and e) major language groups. Include an explanation of how the program ensures that it is providing culturally competent services
As applicable, a list of groups or classes including, for each group or class: a) the type of activity/group; b) whether the activity/group is short-term or ongoing; c) how often the activity/group is offered; d) the average number of participants per session of the activity/group, in the last month; and e) the total number of participants in the activity/group, in the last month
A list of any programs that were opened, merged with other programs or services, or closed
Two quarterly reports from the case record review process conducted for this service, with any related corrective action plans (See PA-PQI 4.02/4.03)
Two quarterly reports of accidents, incidents, and grievances related to this service (See PA-RPM 2.02)
All COA-approved NA Requests
A list of all NAs applicable to your agency provided within the standards

Part 2: Program Outputs and Outcomes

Provide a response in each box describing how the program is making progress toward achieving its aims, and achieving better results for participants.

1. A summary of where the agency is in the development of its program for measuring program quality and outcomes, specific to the service.

2. A list or description of program outputs and desired outcomes and any outputs and outcomes being measured including measurement tools used.

Note: Program outputs may include consumer satisfaction, number of clients served, number of visits, timeliness of assessments, etc.

3. An overview of the agency's process for analyzing data.

4. Examples of program improvements made based on the outcomes data.

Attachments

Outcomes measurement/data collection procedures
Outcomes results reported for the previous two quarters


	Self-Study Documents	On-Site Documents	On-Site Activities
PA-JJC 1 Screening and Assessment	Screening and intake procedures Assessment procedures Assessment tool and/or criteria		Interview: Program director Relevant personnel Youth served Review case records
PA-JJC 2 Service Planning and Monitoring	Service planning and monitoring procedures	Documentation of case review	Interview Program director Relevant personnel Youth served and their families Review case records
PA-JJC 3 Service Philosophy, Modalities, and Interventions	Include Service Philosophy in Service Narrative Part 1: Program Information Procedures for use of non-traditional or unconventional practices, as applicable Table of contents of training curricula Policies for prohibited interventions	Documentation of training	Interview: Program director Relevant personnel Youth served Review case records
PA-JJC 4 Family Connections and Involvement	Include description of family involvement in Service Narrative Part 1: Program Information Procedures for involving youths' families		Interview: Program director Relevant personnel Youth served and their families Review case records
PA-JJC 5 Collaboration and Coordination	Include description of the agency's collaboration and coordination efforts in Service Narrative Part 1: Program Information Procedures for collaborating with relevant organizations, agencies, and other parties Confidentiality procedures	Evidence of collaboration with relevant organizations, agencies, and other parties, including agreements with any cooperating providers	Interview: Program director Relevant personnel Youth served Review case records
PA-JJC 6 Health Services	Include description of health services in Service Narrative Part 1: Program Information Health related procedures	Health education material	Interview: Program director Relevant personnel Youth served Verify employment of qualified medical practitioner either directly or via contract Review case records
PA-JJC 7 Mental Health Services	Include description of mental health services in Service Narrative Part 1: Program Information Mental health related procedures	Documentation of residents with co-occurring conditions	Interview: Program director Relevant personnel Youth served Verify employment of qualified mental health professional either directly or via contract Review case records
PA-JJC 8 Services for Substance Use Conditions	Include description of services for substance use conditions in Service Narrative Part 1: Program Information Substance use related procedures		Interview: Program director Relevant personnel Youth served Verify employment of qualified health professional either directly or via contract Review case records
PA-JJC 9 Education Services	Include description of services in Service Narrative Part 1: Program Information Procedures for developing educational plans Procedures for enrolling participants in local school, if applicable	Procedures for coordinating with local school district, if applicable	Interview: Program director Relevant personnel Youth served Review case records
PA-JJC 10 Development of Social and Independent Living Skills	Include description of services in Service Narrative Part 1: Program Information	Program curricula	Interview: Program director Relevant personnel Youth served Review case records
PA-JJC 11 Workforce Development Services	Include description of services in Service Narrative Part 1: Program Information	Program curricula	Interview: Program director Relevant personnel Youth served Review case records
PA-JJC 12 Living and Service Environment	Include description in Service Narrative Part 1: Program Information		Interview: Program director Relevant personnel Youth served Observe site
PA-JJC 13 Service Culture	Include description in Service Narrative Part 1: Service Information Procedures regarding visits, phone calls, and mail	Program rules and expectations Program schedule	Intervew: Program director Relevant personnel Youth served Review case records Observe site
PA-JJC 14 Maintaining Safety and Security	Youth/staff ratios Procedures for conducting searches Procedures for making housing assignments Procedures for ensuring safety when youth are locked in their rooms, if applicable When youth are locked in their rooms for routine purposes, include description of why this is necessary and how the agency maintains a positive service culture in Service Narrative Part 1: Program Information	Youth/staff ratios and coverage schedules for the past year	Interview: Program director Relevant personnel Youth served Review case records Observe site
PA-JJC 15 Planning for Reentry	Reentry planning procedures		Interview: Program director Relevant personnel Youth served Review case records
PA-JJC 16 Case Closing and Aftercare	Case closing and follow-up procedures		Interview: Program director Relevant personnel Youth served Review case records
PA-JJC 17 Personnel	Program staffing chart that includes lines of supervision Table of contents of training curricula Procedures and criteria used to assign and evaluate workloads List of program personnel that includes: name title degree held and/or other credentials FTE or volunteer length of service at the agency time in current position	Documentation of training Training curricula Job descriptions Documentation of workload assessment	Interview: Supervisors Personnel Review personnel files Verify employment of or contract with professionals providing specialized services

Fundamental Practice Standards:


Essential Life and Safety	Health and Welfare	Client Rights
PA-JJC 1.01, PA-JJC 1.02, PA-JJC 2.01, PA-JJC 3.03, PA-JJC 3.04, PA-JJC 6.01, PA-JJC 7.01, PA-JJC 7.07, PA-JJC 13.06, PA-JJC 14.01, PA-JJC 14.03, PA-JJC 14.05, PA-JJC 14.06	PA-JJC 1.03, PA-JJC 3.02, PA-JJC 6.02, PA-JJC 6.03, PA-JJC 6.08, PA-JJC 7.03, PA-JJC 7.04, PA-JJC 7.05, PA-JJC 8.01, PA-JJC 8.04, PA-JJC 8.05, PA-JJC 12.01	PA-JJC 4.01, PA-JJC 13.01, PA-JJC 13.07, PA-JJC 14.02, PA-JJC 14.04

RELATED FILES


	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.


	CONNECTED The means by which individuals access services that may or may not be provided by the organization itself. These terms are used interchangeably when individuals are connected to services either directly or by referral. See also LINKED.


	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.


	ACCREDITATION The formal evaluation of an organization against accepted criteria or standards. A professional society, non-governmental organization, or a governmental agency may conduct accreditation activities. A COA-accredited organization has undergone a period of rigorous self-study and is capable of providing programs and services that meet or exceed COA standards.


	SERVICE PHILOSOPHY The theoretical framework that describes and explains an organization's approach to service.


	ELIGIBILITY The degree to which an individual, family, group, or community meets the specific criteria and qualifications required to receive goods, benefits, or services.


	CRITERIA Systematically developed, objective, and quantifiable statements used to assess the appropriateness of specific decisions, services, and outcomes.


	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."


	PEER REVIEW An evaluation process in which professionals from similar backgrounds review the work of their associates.


	MAJOR LANGUAGE GROUP The presence of a substantial core of people in both the community and the client population that share a language.


	CLIENT See service recipient.


	GRIEVANCE See COMPLAINT


	QUALITY In this context, the extent to which contemporary and generally recognized standards for professional practice are met and exceeded, and desirable service outcomes achieved.


	INTAKE The client's entry point for services at which eligibility is assessed against established criteria and a preliminary evaluation of the presenting problem occurs.


	CASE RECORD A written compilation that describes the client and the services delivered. Records can be in hard copy and/or electronic format. The case record can be used as a source of information for quality improvement or other evaluation activities, for research purposes, or to demonstrate accountability to funding bodies.


	CONSUMER The individual, family, group, or community that seeks or receives services.


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards


	PLANNING The process of specifying objectives, evaluating the means for their achievement, and exercising deliberate decision making about appropriate courses of action.


	MONITORING An evaluation involving a periodic review of consumer services, organizational activities, or conduct. Specifically, monitoring is an activity of case coordination, whereas more broadly, monitoring is an evaluation technique used in overall quality assurance.


	CASE REVIEW A regular and periodic examination of a consumer's service needs, service delivery goals and objectives, intervention plans, prognoses, and the timelines required to achieve them. The direct service provider and supervisor frequently conduct the case review, but it may also involve others, as in an interdisciplinary or inter-organizational case conference. The client, or the parent or legal guardian in the case of a minor, are included in his/her periodic case review by the team.


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organizational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	CONFIDENTIALITY An ethical and practice principle that requires the protection of information shared within a professional-client relationship. An organization that upholds confidentiality prohibits personnel from disclosing information about persons served without their written consent.


	QUALIFIED MEDICAL PRACTITIONER See QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL


	MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL A professional with specialized training and skills in the nature and treatment of mental illness and who uses this information to provide clinical, preventive, and social services. Mental health professionals include: psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric registered nurses, and social workers.


	CULTURE The customs, habits, values, skills, technology, beliefs, and religious, social, and political behaviors of a group of people in a specific period of time.


	CASE CLOSING A voluntary or involuntary process which occurs when an organization no longer assumes responsibility for providing services to a particular individual, group, or family. Also known as "termination" or "discharge."


	SUPERVISION Assumption of responsibility for directly overseeing and evaluating the work or work products of personnel within an organization. Also includes inspecting the act or process of accomplishing a function or activity.


	WORKLOAD The amount of work assigned to or expected from a person within a specified period of time. See also CASELOAD.


	PROGRAM PERSONNEL All direct service and administrators or supervisors of direct services that are involved in the operation of the organization's social service programs. "Program personnel" does not include MIS, accounting, facilities, clerical, or other staff that are not involved in the provision or oversight of direct services.


	VOLUNTEER An individual who performs services for an organization for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons, without promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation for services rendered. Such service must be offered freely and without pressure or coercion, direct or implied, from an employer. If the individual is otherwise employed by the same employer for which s/he volunteers, the individual cannot volunteer to perform the same type of services that s/he is paid to perform as an employee.


	JOB DESCRIPTION Explicit obligations and specific tasks required of personnel as a condition of employment. Such descriptions are in writing and may include educational, experiential, and skill requirements associated with the job.