Accreditation
2011 – Our Commitment Continues…
In support of our ongoing commitment to provide quality care and the best possible service in all facets from the day to day running of each program to overall best practices, Greystoke continually endeavours to meet or exceed all applicable standards for Accreditation
In March 2011, Greystoke Children’s Program was awarded a 4 year Accreditation (highest level granted) with 100% compliance in each of its Children with Special Needs as recognition for achieving accreditation excellence in professional practices.
Such excellence is achieved through the dedicated efforts of a qualified and efficient health care team and in professional collaboration with all involved stakeholders in the best interests of persons served.
The Home Care Program has successfully completed a major portion of the Accreditation process with100% compliance, and plans to complete the process (interviews of frontline staff and persons served) upon receiving further information from Alberta Health Services (anticipated in fall 2011).
The Road to Accreditation….
This journey has fostered enormous growth, development and cohesiveness within our agency, as well as an excitement to share this experience with other service providers.
Prior to the introduction of the Children’s Program, the agency was certified and practicing the ACDS standards for Creating Excellence Together. However, those standards thus far are not recognized by and do not speak to the parameters included in Children Services. Although it was not mandated by the funding body at the time, the Children’s Program Director came from a background and a world where accreditation is a part of life, and could not imagine facilitating service without a measurable set of best practice standards. The adventure began.
During the spring to fall of 2005, the children’s team spoke with representatives of each of the approved accrediting organizations, as well as local service providers that have completed the accreditation process. Achieving accreditation was a great idea in theory, however, the FSCD world is very unique and none of the bodies could offer a clean fit. The focus was either on adults, strictly residential, intervention services or medical supports. A few of the organizations had stated that they were looking at exploring children with special needs, but just were not there yet. In other areas of the agency, the Home Care department was at a crossroads themselves. The Home Care team needed accreditation in order to be eligible to bid on future contracted services, as well as to be able to ensure that the appropriate training, supervision and satisfaction measures were in place. The Canadian Accreditation Council of Human Services seemed to be the most promising, as it was the closest fit, was highly recognized in this region, and had anticipated timelines to venture into children with special needs standards. The Canadian Accreditation Council of Human Services suggested if the program could wait until the following year, they would be happy to work with us on standards for children with special needs. As accreditation was not yet mandated, the agency decided that waiting for the “best fit” was our option of choice. As with any major change and rewriting of major policy, a set timeline was not committed to and somewhat of a holding pattern was occurring.
In the meantime, the agency’s Children’s Program experienced enormous growth and the agency felt strongly that accreditation was necessary. How could we guarantee that our staff had the appropriate training and preparedness? How could we stay on top of supervision and satisfaction? The program needed a set of best practice standards! The Home Care department encountered a similar quandary as the Children’s Department. A unique level of service was being provided and it was difficult to find an accrediting body that encompassed the program. As well, accreditation is a huge commitment for an organization and there were no localized bodies available to provide the support needed. So, the agency went back to the Canadian Accreditation Council. C.A.C. recognized the agencies need to move full steam ahead and agreed to offer accreditation for both Children with Special Needs and Home Care. Greystoke Homes & Support Services Inc. now became a pilot project with the Canadian Accreditation Council.
The challenge was now to create the standards in which to be measure by. Numerous phone conferences and meetings began. Several obstacles arose. The accrediting body coming from an intervention background had a very difficult time understanding the F.S.C.D. practice model, particularly that responsibility is maintained by the parents and the fact that all services are voluntary and not mandated. The Home Care world was completely foreign to the accrediting body. It became apparent very quickly that neither program “fit” under many of the existing standards. As a result, there was a lot of work to do.
To add a few more hurdles to the already daunting road ahea, the accrediting body was undergoing some structual changes and staffing shifts which greatly impeded their ability to give the agency the required support. As well, C.A.C. was in the process of refining their 2004 Standards to the form of the newly adopted 2008 Standards. So, not only was Greystoke embarking on program specific pilot projects, the agency also got to be the “guinea pigs” as the first agency to adopt the 2008 Generic Standards. 2007 was an interesting year to say the least.
Work began on determining which standards could be adapted to our scope of practice and which standards would have to be created from scratch. This took several phone conferences, countless emails and meetings with the C.A.C. representatives travelling to our facility from their Edmonton office. While this was an incredibly taxing process at times, Greystoke is now reaping the rewards of the commitment and hard work. The programs’ have developed into cohesive teams with a renewed respect and appreciation for our fellow service providers and each other.
On April 24, 2008, Greystoke Homes & Support Services Inc. very proudly became the first agency accredited through the 2008 Standards of the Canadian Accreditation Council of Human Services, as well as the C.A.C. Home Care and Children with Special Needs Standards. The specific accredited programs are as follows:
• Home Care – Hourly – Home Care Program
• Home Care – Contract – Home Care Program
• Short Term Respite (Weekend) – Repsite / Children with Special Needs Program
• Long Term Respite (Residential) – Respite / Children with Special Needs Program
• Children with Special Needs (Hourly) – Children with Special Needs Program