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 Mental Health and/or Substance Use Services (MHSU) and Integrated Care; Health Homes (ICHH) standards have been revised in response to SAMHSA releasing its updated criteria for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) in March 2023. As more states begin drafting their state certification processes and requiring independent accreditation for CCBHCs, Social Current is committed to ensuring our COA Accreditation standards continue to meet the needs of these clinics nationwide. We are also updating the standards to reflect current literature and practice in behavioral health and care integration.
  Download the MSHU and ICHH documents of proposed changes.
  
• The Pregnancy Support Services (PS) standards have been updated to reflect current literature and practice and address the range of supports and services needed to help pregnant individuals make decisions about their pregnancies, experience healthy births, prepare for parenthood, and improve their own health and well-being.
  Download the document of proposed changes.
  
• The Adult Protective Services (APS) standards have been revised to better address current literature and practice related to screening, investigation, service coordination and delivery, and collaboration with community partners in adult protective services. These revisions aim to mitigate or eliminate the risk of abuse, neglect, and exploitation for vulnerable adults, emphasizing the promotion of their safety, independence, and overall well-being.
  Download the document of proposed changes.
  
• The Respite Care (RC) standards have been updated to align with current literature and practice and reflect effective, person-centered respite care with a focus on both the caregiver’s and the care recipient’s specific needs and preferences. The revisions also clarify and streamline respite care intake and assessment, care provision, and service environment practices and procedures.
  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 Feb. 1.  

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.    

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. The final updates will be released in spring 2024.