Private Organization

About Private Organization Accreditation

COA is widely recognized by national organizations as an accrediting body with the scope, and ability to contribute significantly to the improvement of a full array of community based behavioral healthcare and child and family services. COA accreditation requires that organizations meet national standards for delivery of service and administration of the organization. The accreditation process also analyzes organizational strengths and weaknesses and helps organizations to establish a framework to measure continuous quality improvement and validate their effectiveness. COA’s Contextual Accreditation™ process provides this framework and helps an organization document “what works” and build their capacity to provide the highest quality services to the people they serve.

COA’s Standards for Private Organizations  are applicable to various service lines and organizational structures.

Private Edition Services

Child and Family Services:
Child and Family Development (CFD) * Case Management (CM) * Foster Care (FC) * Adoption(AS) * Intercountry Adoption (ICA) *Group Homes (GLS) * Residential Treatment (RTX) * Youth Independent Living (YIL) * Respite (RC)* Child Protective Services (CPS) * Early Childhood Education (ECE) * Family Preservation and Stabilization (FPS) * Guardian Services for Minors (GSM)* Pregnancy Support (PS)* Social Development and Enrichment (SDE) * Shelter (SH) * Volunteer Mentoring (VM) *Youth Development (YD) * Therapeutic Outdoor Services (WT) * Kinship Care (KC)

Behavioral Health Services:
Outpatient Mental Health (MH) * Counseling Support and Education (CSE) * Case Management (CM) * Psychosocial Rehabilitation (PSR) * Day Treatment (DTX) *  Residential Treatment (RTX) * Crisis Intervention (CRI) *Domestic Violence (DV) * Substance Use (SA)

Aging Services:
Adult Day Services  (AD)*  Home Health-Aide / Homemaker Services (HCS) * * Respite Services (RC) * Volunteer Friendship (VM) * Supported Community Living (SCL) * Adult Protective Services (APS)  * Adult Guardian (AG)

Homeless Services:
Outreach Services (OS) * Shelter Services (SH) * Case Management (CM) *  Supported Community Living (SCL) * Employment Services (VOC)

Services for the People with Developmental Disabilities:
DD Services (DDS) * Case Management (CM) * Group Living (GLS) * Adult Day Services (AD) * Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Services Supported (VOC)   * Adult Protective Services (APS)

Juvenile Justice Services:
Juvenile Justice Case management (JJCM) * Juvenile Justice Corrections (JJC) * Juvenile Justice Day Services (JJD)

Networks / Lead Agencies (NET) -  Network Management Entities (NME) standards address core administrative practices that contribute to the effective management and coordination of an integrated network of service providers.

Opioid Treatment /Substance Abuse (OTP) – The COA is an approved accrediting body of methadone treatment programs by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA).

Financial Education and Counseling (FEC) – The FEC standards focus on financial education/counseling services content, standards for housing counseling /education services,  and standards that allow for accreditation of organizations that do not offer debt management programs

Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) - The EAP standards are tailored for internal and external EAP’s. COA has customized the EAP process support best practices in the EAP industry.

Not For-Profit - A not-for-profit organization is formed for a charitable or benevolent purpose rather than for making a profit. A not-for-profit organization is a private, voluntary social agency funded from a variety of sources, such as client fees, third parties, public contributions, philanthropic contributions, and government grants and contracts.

For-Profit - An organization that is owned or staffed by professionals and intended to make a financial profit by offering a specific service or set of services.

The value of accreditation for private organizations is varied and primarily related to their environment. The majority of COA organizations voluntarily choose to achieve and maintain accreditation to strengthen their organization’s foundation and service delivery. 

The decision to pursue accreditation is a major step in opening up an organization to a high level of self-examination and review. Depending on the structure of the organization pursuing accreditation, COA will create a realistic accreditation timeline  that takes into account readiness, size, number of programs and sites, and capacity. In addition, COA provides strong support throughout the process that includes one-on-one work with a coordinator, readiness assessments, and a multitude of training opportunities.

COA works in partnership with states and organizations in accordance with applicable accreditation mandates.