NSDRC

CARFAC Quarterly Report – February 2003

The accreditation process at the North Shore Disability Resource Centre has been going very well since the Kick-Off Celebration in November 2002. We have met our established timelines and plan to continue with a very successful collaborative process in time for a site survey in April 2004.

Sub-Committees

The Sub-Committees are serving their primary purpose of involving stakeholders at each level of service delivery including the organization and program levels. Another important part of the process will be to review our evaluation processes at the NSDRC and move toward an outcomes based model. The Survey Preparation Guides for each program area have been completed and submitted in preparation for completing the Standards Worksheets. A Communications Committee has been established to function as the main communication source for the Accreditation process.

Unlicensed Residential Programs

We have been informed by CARF that because the Unlicensed Homes Program is not driven by Individual Service Planning, we will not need to include them in the Accreditation process. Therefore, the Unlicensed Homes Programs will not be a part of the site survey, but they will continue to meet as many of the standards as are applicable.

CARF 2003 Manuals

The CARF 2003 manuals were ordered from CARF as soon as possible after Christmas. There are significant changes to Section 1 – Organizational Quality which is now called Business Practices and Sections 2 and 3 – Quality Outcomes and Individual Service Planning and Delivery. Fortunately, most the work on completing the standards had not been started, so we did not engage in a lot of unnecessary work.

Quality Outcomes Committee

This section has been moved to Section 1 and is now called Business Management and Performance Improvement. In order for us to effectively meet the standards in this section we have chosen to hire Jeneen McClellan to assist us in developing a plan for this area. Janeen has significant experience in Quality Assurance programming, teaches this course at the Justice Institute and was previously a member of the Provincial Monitoring Group. She will spend two days reviewing our current processes and provide us with a report regarding the steps we will need to take to meet the CARF standards in this area.

Communications Committee

This committee has helped produce the Accreditation Bulletins, the Accreditation Fact Sheet and the Web Site information on accreditation (check our website at www.nsdrc.org). They have initiated a fun activity in February’s bulletin that includes a quiz about Accreditation and prizes, so that we maintain stakeholder involvement and interest in the process. Discussions have begun about future, fun events like this one.

Next Steps

Our next important deadline is to finish the Standards Worksheets by September 30, 2003 so that we have six months to implement the new policies and procedures in time for the Site Survey in April 2004. Simultaneously, we will be working on developing an Outcomes Management System in time to produce a six month Outcomes Report for the Site Survey.

I feel confident we will be ready to apply to CARF in December, 2003 for a Site Survey in April, 2004. The incredible cooperative spirit shown by our staff, families, persons served and other stakeholders has been tremendous and is greatly appreciated. Many other agencies who have completed or who are in the process of completing CARF Accreditation have been very helpful in terms of sharing documents, ideas and support. An exciting sharing of ideas is going on throughout the province as well as at the agency level, a further bonus of the Accreditation process.

Margot Beauchamp – Accreditation Manager
604-904-4087
e-mail m.beauchamp@nsdrc.org