The 8th Edition Standards
COA's 8th Edition Standards are available to the public at no cost online at
www.COAstandards.org
To view 8th Edition Standards updates, click here.
The Canadian 8th Edition Standards can be viewed at www.coacanadastandards.org
A Focus on Outcomes
Structure of the Standards
Development Process
For More Information
COA's 8th Edition Standards are at the core of Contextual Accreditation. They set forth a range of appropriate best practices, incorporate the strongest parts of the 7th Edition and - most importantly - retain COA's commitment to client rights and essential life and safety practices.
www.COAstandards.org
www.COAstandards.org is the new web-based home of the 8th Edition Standards. When you click on www.COAstandards.org you will have immediate access to:
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All of the 8th Edition Standards for private and public organizations
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"Real-time" updates to all of the standards
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The capacity to easily print out PDF versions of each set of standards in case you need a mobile version
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Easy access to glossary terms, related standards, and research notes referenced within the standards
The Canadian 8th Edition Standards
In 2007, COA released the Canadian Organisations 8th Edition Standards. The Canadian standards have been tailored to reflect the service delivery framework of Canadian organizations and language has been Anglicized.
The Canadian 8th Edition Standards can be viewed at www.coacanadastandards.org.
A Focus on Outcomes
Recognizing that human service organizations are faced with increasing pressure to document "what works" in terms of meeting the unique needs and aspirations of the people they serve, embedded in the 8th Edition Standards is the principle that increased organizational capacity is linked to improved service delivery and that this, in turn, results in better outcomes. This explicit linkage between strong administration and management practices and measurable effective service delivery is unique to the 8th Edition Standards and to COA.
Some of the widely accepted measurable outcomes promoted by the standards include:
Structure of the Standards
The new Standards are organized into three groups:
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Administration and Management Standards - required for all organizations
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Service Delivery Administration Standards (behavior support and management, client rights, service environment, and training and supervision) - required for all organizations
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Service Standards - organizations only complete sections for those services they provide
The standards have a new coherence due largely to a unifying framework using a three-level structure. At the highest level, a purpose standard provides the overall aim of the practices in a section of standards. At a middle level, each of the parts that comprise a section is headed by a core concept standard. These standards are written to help organizations measure program output. Lastly, at a third level, standards that contain detailed practices contribute to the core concept, and to meeting the purpose. These are practice standards. When implementing the standards, an organization will see at a glance a recognizable outcomes orientation.
COA's Accreditation Guidelines specify how an organization is to demonstrate implementation of the standards and include, for each standard, a four-level series of indicators against which the organization's implementation will be evaluated.
For a complete list of standards, click here.
Development Process
COA's new 8th Edition Standards reflect current best practice in the field as determined through extensive literature reviews and a rigorous, multi-stage development and vetting process. As a result, the 8th Edition Standards hold new relevance for organizations of every size and mission.
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Advisory Panels - comprised of field experts, agency leaders, and service providers - guided the development of the standards.
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Subject Matter Expert Panels provided input regarding trends in the field, while COA staff conducted an in-depth review of all available literature and data.
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Draft standards were posted on the COA website for field review and comment by hundreds of professionals like you.
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Finally, the standards underwent field-testing with a cross-section of organizations. Their experiences and those of the Peer Reviewers who conducted the site visits provided COA with valuable insights and feedback into the strengths of the new standards and identified opportunities for improvement.
New features include reference and related resource lists upon which the standards are based, and research notes that provide additional guidance about strong practices. This information is provided to assist those organizations that would like to pursue additional knowledge about a particular practice.
For More Information
Please look at our 8th Edition Standards brochure and our COA Standards website brochure.
If you need information on the 7th Edition Standards, click here.
