The Council on Accreditation (COA) Publishes 2020 Edition Standards


Countless hours were invested by our team of staff and volunteers to bring these updates to fruition. We are thrilled to release standards that focus on the areas most relevant to our organizations, tying directly to their results all while preserving the rigor of COA accreditation.

The Council on Accreditation (COA) is proud to announce its publication of new 2020 Edition Standards. The Standards will affect private, public, and Canadian organizations seeking accreditation, and can be viewed online at https://coanet.org/standards.

The changes come after COA sought feedback from its volunteers, organizations, and partners, who provided valuable insight into which aspects of COA’s accreditation process were most helpful. All of the work was done with a single goal in mind: to increase the value of accreditation by focusing on those practices and activities that will have the greatest impact on the people and communities its organizations work with. With this focus, the COA Board of Trustees recently approved COA’s updated mission as “partnering with human and social service organizations to strengthen their ability to improve the lives of the people they serve.”

COA President & CEO Jody Levison-Johnson commended the group effort that culminated in the 2020 Edition, noting that “countless hours were invested by our team of staff and volunteers to bring these updates to fruition. We are thrilled to release standards that focus on the areas most relevant to our organizations, tying directly to their results all while preserving the rigor of COA accreditation.”

The 2020 Edition focuses on the standards that promote the development of effective, mission-driven organizations that are equipped to meet the needs of their clients. Through efforts to refine the standards and focus on those that most impact client outcomes, COA has reduced both the standards and required evidence by about 30%. This will help organizations spend less time compiling evidence, and more time improving practice.

A PDF summary of the standards changes can be found at https://go.coanet.org/2020Edition.

COA will be hosting a webinar on January 16th at 2 PM EST to answer questions about the new Standards. Register at https://bit.ly/2Rgq9Ls.

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