Field Comment Period Open for Draft Updates to COA Accreditation Standards

Help Shape the Next Edition of COA Accreditation Standards

COA Accreditation, a service of Social Current, is proposing enhancements to its accreditation standards. These draft revisions are now available for review and comment from the field.

• The Domestic Violence (DV) standards, have been updated to reflect current literature and practice to ensure they support survivor empowerment, respond to the different types of abuse survivors may have experienced, and address the range of services that enable survivors to heal, access resources, develop connections, and build skills.
  Download the document of proposed changes.
  
• The Services for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDDS) standards have been revised to better address key topics in the field including personnel competency, the inclusion of workers with lived experience on the team, caregiver/family support, and the delivery of individualized, therapeutic interventions to address symptoms that inhibit positive functioning and quality of life.
  Download the document of proposed changes.
  
• The Crisis Response and Information Services (CRI) standards have been expanded to better reflect the full spectrum of crisis services including additional standards for crisis text services, mobile response, peer support staff, and short-term crisis receiving and stabilization units that were all previously accredited under Residential Treatment Services (RTX). The updated standards also include new or expanded content on law enforcement involvement; collaborative crisis response systems; and trauma-informed, culturally-responsive, and person-centered care.
  Download the document of proposed changes.
  
• The Wilderness and Adventure-Based Therapeutic Outdoor Services (WT) standards have been expanded to include WT services for adult populations and include new content on safety and well-being for persons served and personnel in the field. The updated standards also include new content on trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and person-centered care.
  Download the document of proposed changes.

Click on the links above to save the Word documents to your computer’s Downloads folder. Review the documents and submit your feedback through the process outlined at the top of each document. The deadline to make comments is Dec. 14.  

These proposed updates reflect an in-depth review and synthesis of prominent published research and professional literature, as well as collaboration with a diverse group of subject matter experts from this field. The field comment period is a critical step in our process because it ensures our standards are field informed by including input from provider organizations in the development process. The final updates will be released in spring 2024.   

This critical pairing of research and practice ensures that the COA Accreditation standards remain rigorous, practical, and reflective of current trends and evolving practices and continue to promote improved outcomes for individuals, families, and communities.