Powell River’s Association for Community Living (PRACL) has been awarded a further three years of accreditation to continue providing community services for those with developmental disabilities and acquired brain injuries.
This is the third three-year accreditation that PRACL has been granted in succession. The accrediting body responsible for PRACL’s review is the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), an independent, non-profit agency that “establishes consumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their programs and services,” according to a PRACL press release.
As a part of the review process CARF assesses whether the agency still meets certain standards and whether that has been maintained over the past three years. Lilla Tipton, executive director of the association, gave credit to PRACL’s staff and to its board of directors for maintaining a high level of service.
“It’s really their work that makes that happen,” said Tipton. “It’s the ongoing diligence of their work that helps us to meet those standards.”
Over the next three years Tipton said that they plan to work on the recommendations that CARF made. Every year a new set of standards is released and part of PRACL’s yearly work is to make sure that they meet the criteria. Quality assurance reports are also submitted every year to prove qualification.
Among CARF’s recommendations is that PRACL have a more comprehensive succession plan for governance and that the board continue to do regular self-evaluations for individual members. With regard to health and safety CARF has asked the agency to require medical information from staff members in case of a medical emergency. Also PRACL has been asked to upgrade its medication policy to meet standards. Tipton said that all of the recommendations will be worked on during the new accreditation period.
The report also highlights numerous strengths, including PRACL’s “extremely passionate and deep commitment to its mission, to providing quality services and to quality improvement.” CARF commends PRACL also for its services, its relationship between the board, management, staff and clients and its “policies, procedures and systems to support its business operations and services.”
“PRACL provides excellent services,” reads the report, “and demonstrates a true commitment to quality and a willingness to improve services and operations.”
