COA - Council On Accreditation

	Training and Supervision

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

Service Delivery Administration Narrative (PA-TS):

UPDATE: TABLE OF EVIDENCE - 04/01/11

The Service Delivery Administration Narrative should provide an overview of key practices that contribute to the performance and productivity of your agency. The Narrative supports, but should not duplicate, evidence provided elsewhere in your self-study.

The Public Agency Training and Supervision Service Delivery Administration Narrative should provide the Peer Review Team with a clear, concise description of how your training and supervision practices promote staff competence and effective service delivery.

Purpose Standard: Public Agency Training and Supervision (PA-TS)

The agency supports staff and promotes staff competence by providing regular supervision and training on relevant service delivery topics.

Provide responses to the following questions that address your agency’s achievement of the Public Agency Training and Supervision Purpose Standard. Highlight applicable obstacles and innovations, if any, in each of your responses.

1. Describe the overall structure of your agency’s training and personnel development program. Include or discuss:

your agency’s philosophy on personnel development and how it supports professional advancement and the fulfillment of continuing education requirements; and
your agency’s process for regularly assessing the training needs of staff and revising the training program as appropriate.

(e.g., The achievement of our agency’s mission is dependant upon our staff’s ability to competently fulfill their job responsibilities. We continue to budget monetary resources for professional development activities.

Our Training Coordinator meets annually with each program director to discuss the agency's training needs and to redraft training curricula as necessary. This ensures that we are meeting the specific needs of each program site and that across the agency we continue to support staff, promote staff competence, and achieve desired outcomes.

Last year we added a component to our training to strengthen our intensive case management skill sets based on a new program we are instituting for the homeless mentally ill….)

2. Cite 2-3 examples of training and personnel development activities or decisions that your agency has undertaken which contributed to the staff’s ability to competently provide services.

(e.g., Our agency hired a new Training Coordinator last January. Since then, the coordinator has worked closely with the Director, program supervisors, and staff to develop a training program that meets the agency’s needs …)

3. Describe your agency’s system of supervision.

4. Identify a part of your training and supervision program that has been:

the most difficult to advance, and indicate the reasons why; and
the least difficult to advance, and indicate the reasons why.

(e.g., Due to recent funding cuts at the Federal level in vocational rehabilitation services, we have been exploring innovative training methods and personnel development opportunities. In March, we entered into a partnership with two local vocational rehabilitation programs to design a structured training program that allows our staff to receive specific aspects of its training at the partnering sites…)

5. Provide any additional information that would increase the Peer Team’s understanding of how your agency’s training and supervision activities support staff and promote staff competence.

Attachments:

All COA-approved NA Requests.
A list of all NAs applicable to your agency provided within the standards.

Note:

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

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


	Self-Study Documents	On-Site Documents	On-Site Activities
PA-TS 1 Personnel Development and Training		Annual budget with line for training and personnel development Training requirements for different positions or job categories	Interview: Clinical or program director Relevant personnel Volunteers
PA-TS 2 Training Content*	Table of contents of the agency's orientation curriculum Table of contents for training provided to all personnel regarding topics outlined in PA-TS 2.02	Annual training calendar and/or training schedules Outline of required training and time frames for completion Training files, database, or personnel files that demonstrate attendance at required trainings Training curricula	Interview: Clinical or program director Relevant personnel
PA-TS 3 Supervision*	Agency chart(s) for administrative offices that illustrates lines of supervision Criteria for assigning supervisory responsibilities	Documentation of supervision or supervision logs HR policy and procedures regarding supervision Supervisors’ role in development and assessment of personnel annual training plan Job descriptions of supervisors	Interview: Supervisors Relevant personnel Community stakeholders, such as universities, utilizing agency for field placements Student interns
PA-TS 4 Network Training	Description of the network's training program Tables of contents of orientation and training curricula Annual training calendar and/or training schedules Outline of required training and timeframes for completion	Training files, database, or personnel files that demonstrate attendance at required trainings Training curricula	Interview: Network training coordinator Network providers and individual practitioners
PA-TS 5 Training Direct Service Personnel Providing Developmental Disabilities Services*	Table of contents of training curricula	Training curricula Documentation of training	Interview: Supervisors Personnel Review personnel records

Fundamental Practice Standards:


Essential Life and Safety	Health and Welfare	Client Rights
PA-TS 2.09	PA-TS 2.02, PA-TS 3.02

RELATED FILES


	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


	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.


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


	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.


	PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT Activities conducted both in and out of the organization to improve the ability of personnel to perform their assigned tasks, to assume higher levels of responsibility, and to better serve the needs of individuals and families.


	CLINICAL The study, assessment, and diagnosis of the client situation followed by direct treatment to help the client achieve prescribed goals.


	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.


	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.


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


	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.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	STAKEHOLDER Any person, group, or organization that has a vested interest in the services provided by the organization. Examples: clients, consumers, personnel, funding organizations, referral organizations, vendors, and governmental bodies.


	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.