COA Accreditation Reviews First Organization Against SAMHSA Criteria for CCBHCs

Heartland Family Service recently became the first organization in the country to be reviewed against SAMHSA’s updated criteria for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics through COA Accreditation, a service of Social Current.

Funded through SAMHSA, CCBHCs are designed to ensure access to coordinated and comprehensive behavioral health care. CCBHCs are required to serve anyone who requests care for mental health or substance use, regardless of their ability to pay, place of residence, or age—including developmentally appropriate care for children and youth.

With over 500 CCBHCs operating across the country, SAMHSA’s recent criteria encourages states to require accreditation by an independent accrediting body as part of its state certification requirements. COA Accreditation standards cover SAMHSA’s six key program areas and align with the CCBHC certification criteria.

COA Accreditation reviewed Heartland Family Service’s ability to meet the CCBHC certification criteria through site visits, discussions with service providers and care recipients, and data review. As the first organization to undergo COA Accreditation’s CCBHC review utilizing SAMHSA’s criteria, Heartland Family Service has helped to strengthen the process to assist more organizations in their pursuit of this review.

“CCBHCs provide timely access to mental health and substance use care and create important links for service recipients. We are proud to recognize Heartland Family Service as a CCBHC against SAMHSA’s criteria,” said Jody Levison-Johnson, president and CEO of Social Current.

COA Accreditation standards center person and family-centered treatment and promote culturally and linguistically appropriate practice and inclusive and accessible care. The standards for performance and quality improvement (PQI) provide a roadmap for developing a robust, sustainable, organization-wide PQI system that will increase organizational capacity to meet data tracking and reporting requirements.    

Learn more about COA Accreditation for CCBHCs. 

Webinar on COA Accreditation for CCBHCs

We will be hosting a webinar June 12 from 1-2 p.m. ET that will give an overview of COA Accreditation as it relates to Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs). Participants will hear from staff at Social Current, as well as BestSelf Behavioral Health, a COA-accredited organization operating a CCBHC program. Register now to join us and learn about the process and next steps.