Clinical & Support Options Achieves National Accreditation

NORTHAMPTON — Clinical & Support Options (CSO) announced it has achieved a four-year national accreditation through the New York-based Council on Accreditation (COA). Organizations pursue accreditation to demonstrate the implementation of best-practice standards in the field of human services.
CSO operates more than a dozen programs and services, including outpatient mental-health services, family-support services and family resource centers, crisis evaluation and stabilization, two Fountain House model clubhouses, care coordination and case-management services, substance-abuse evaluation and treatment, court-diversion services for adolescents, and transitional services for families.
The organization serves more than 2,500 families and 14,000 individuals in Hampshire, Hampden, Franklin, Berkshire, and Worcester counties. Over the course of the past year, COA evaluated all aspects of CSO’s programs, services, management, and administration, which culminated in an intensive, three-day site visit in September.
COA accreditation is an objective, independent validation of an agency’s performance. The COA accreditation process involves a detailed review and analysis of an organization’s administration, management, and service-delivery functions against international standards of best practice. The standards driving accreditation ensure that services are well-coordinated, culturally competent, evidence-based, outcomes-oriented, and provided by a skilled and supported workforce. COA accreditation demonstrates accountability in the management of resources, sets standardized best-practice thresholds for service and administration, and increases organizational capacity and accountability by creating a framework for ongoing quality improvement.
An endorsement of COA and the value of its accreditation process is reflected in it being named by the U.S. State Department as the sole national independent accrediting body under the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption to accredit intercountry-adoption service providers. In addition, COA is the only national accreditor designated by the U.S. Department of Defense to develop accreditation standards and processes for human-service programs provided to military personnel and their families.
Founded in 1977, COA is an independent, not-for-profit accreditor of the full continuum of community-based behavioral healthcare and social-service organizations in the U.S. and Canada. More than 2,000 organizations have either successfully achieved COA accreditation or are currently engaged in the process. Presently, COA has a total of 47 service standards that are applicable to over 125 different types of programs. To learn more about COA, visit www.coanet.org.
Clinical and Support Options has been serving area communities for more than 55 years and employs more than 600 individuals. “We are honored that the outstanding work of our staff and the agency’s dedication to quality services has been recognized by COA,” said CEO Karin Jeffers. “CSO always strives to meet the highest standards for our clients, our communities, and our employees, which has been supported by this important award of accreditation.”