Accreditation
Community Living Victoria completed our 7th Accreditation survey in June of 2024. We welcomed 5 surveyors back 4 in person and one virtually. It was a great success, we did not receive any recommendations and have received another 3 year accreditation award. The surveyors heard from several individuals and families how confident people feel with our services. Words like “trust”, “acceptance”, “a place of belonging” and “safe” were mentioned by many people interviewed. This speaks to the ongoing commitment we have at CLV to the people we support to live as independently as possible and to receive services in a way that works best for them. A sincere THANK YOU to everyone for all the work that went into preparing for the survey which reflects our ongoing commitment to the people we support by delivering exceptional services.
CARF Accreditation Report
Our three-year accreditation report from CARF is ready. You can download it here.
Community Living BC has an expectation that all contracted services that receive over $500,000 per year must become accredited in order to receive contracts.
The purpose of accreditation is to provide a mechanism for organizations to review, develop, implement and maintain systems and safeguards for individuals supported. Further, it promotes continuous quality improvement and accountability to our stakeholders.
In 2003 CLV embarked upon this journey to ensure our agency met the high standards and expectations set out by accreditation bodies. We chose CARF (the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) as our team of independent reviewers due to their long history and work in related areas. Many other agencies also are using CARF, therefore sharing and partnering with them was more possible.
Accreditation has motivated us to implement new or revamped tools and resources such as:
• Person Centered Planning and goal setting for each person we provide support to
• Comprehensive electronic based information for people supported that is consistent in layout and content across CLV
• A regularly reviewed policy manual complete with easy to use forms and available on our website
• Consistent look and content in our procedure manuals across all homes and programs
• Emergency manuals, annual training and regular drills that provide staff with easy to use information in the event of any emergency situation
• An enhanced employee orientation manual and process
• Regular satisfaction surveys (individuals, families, employees and stakeholders)
• Increased emphasis on rights, process and information for individuals in resources such as the Individual and Family handbook, the Rights Kits box and self advocacy meetings
• Implementation and tracking of clear measurable, person centered outcomes across all programs at CLV. These results are part of our annual Measurable Outcomes Report
• Emergency profiles that are stored in an electronic data base allowing us to collect stats and maintain and easily access current and emergency information
Responsibility for the development of all the documents and resources lies with the management team. However meeting and maintaining the accreditation standards is the responsibility of all CLV employees. By participating in Person Centered Planning, following up on set goals, following policies, filling in data collection sheets, and providing real day to day examples of how the standards are being met, we are all contributing to maintaining our status as an accredited organization.
If you have any questions about this process, please feel free to contact our Director of Quality Assurance, Shauna Perkins at sperkins@clvic.ca
