Florence Crittenton has achieved national reaccreditation through the New York-based Council on Accreditation (COA). Florence Crittenton is a trauma informed, relationship based organization that provides a wide variety of resources for pregnant and parenting teens and young families of all ages.
In March 2017, COA conducted an extensive on-site evaluation of all components of Florence Crittenton’s Residential Program, Community Outreach Services and their Child Enrichment Center. In addition, they evaluated their management and administration, including the organization’s ethical practices, financial transparency, and oversight of the organization as a whole. As a result of their investigation the agency was awarded an expedited reaccreditation status.
COA accreditation is an objective and independent validation of an agency’s performance. The standards driving accreditation ensure that services are well-coordinated, culturally competent, evidence-based, outcomes-oriented, and provided by a skilled and supported workforce. COA accreditation demonstrates accountability in the management of resources, sets standardized best practice thresholds for service and administration, and increases organizational capacity and accountability by creating a framework for ongoing quality improvement.
Florence Crittenton’s primary objective in seeking accreditation is to ensure that the organization is delivering the highest quality of care to pregnant and parenting young families. Florence Crittenton is recognized nationally as a quality provider of care to this very specialized service area.
Florence Crittenton is the only provider of these specialized services in Montana and in several surrounding states. Accreditation provides a benchmark by which the organization can ensure continued quality and measure the impact their programs have.
“It’s all about caring for the families entrusted in our care”, said Executive Director Barbara Burton. “As an organization committed to transparency and high quality services the process of accreditation ensures an independent 3rd party review based on national quality standards. We are proud to provide our stakeholders with this assurance”.
Florence Crittenton has approached the reaccreditation process as an investment in the lives of the families it serves, and as an opportunity to continue to build a system of accountability, both internally and externally. This process has proven that the organization is meeting all the standards to ensure sustainability in providing quality programs and services to these two generations in their care.
About Council on Accreditation
Founded in 1977, COA is an independent, not-for-profit accreditor of the full continuum of community-based behavioral health care and social service organizations in the United States and Canada. Over 2,000 organizations — voluntary, public, and proprietary; local and statewide; large and small — have either successfully achieved COA accreditation or are currently engaged in the process. Presently, COA has a total of 47 service standards that are applicable to over 125 different types of programs. To learn more about COA, please visit www.coanet.org.
