National Accreditation
Point in Time is proud to say we are accredited with the Canadian Centre for Accreditation (CCA). The CCA is an accreditation body which reviews agencies across Canada. The next accreditation review is scheduled for October 2024 and if successful once again, accreditation in January of 2025.
Introduction to Accreditation with CCA – What is it?
The Canadian Centre for Accreditation (CCA) is a national not-for-profit offering accreditation to community-based health and social service organizations in Canada. Accreditation provides an external review of an organization’s operations in relation to accepted standards of good practice and risk management. Standards address all aspects of the organization, including governance, management, programs and services. It is also a system to promote learning, quality improvement, excellence and innovation. CCA looks at the whole organization. Reviews are conducted by CCA-trained teams made up of senior staff, governing body members and volunteers from the community-based organizations that participate in CCA.
Process
In order to be accredited as a children’s mental health agency, we were required to meet a number of standards, some mandatory and others leading practice.
Mandatory standards are those that we must meet at 100% rate, either because they are required by law, necessary for safety, or are crucial elements of good practice. Leading practice standards promote quality improvement and excellence in our work. To be accredited, we had to meet all the mandatory standards and 80% of leading practice standards, so, the bar is high.
To assess how our agency meets the standards of practice, the review team from CCA interviewed our staff and clients, audited our files, observed some of our programs, and surveyed a variety of people, including community partners, volunteers and staff. This gave them a chance to see and hear whether we do what we say we do.
Standards
There are standards for how our organization is managed and standards for service delivery. PinT not only met but exceeded the requirements:
We met 122 of 122 standards and 502 of 502 indicators both mandatory and those that required us to demonstrate leading practice in the organization. This is an exemplary accomplishment!
Organizationally, CCA reported that PinT is governed by a strong, committed and passionate Board of Directors. In terms of program, services and service delivery, CCA reported that PinT excels at collecting input from all stakeholders, especially persons served, and uses this data effectively to inform planning and decision-making. Of greatest note, is the way PinT engages clients, their families and other community members to provide responsive, innovative and effective evidence informed programming and services.
What CCA says about Our Approaches:
“PinT’s service philosophy of positive reintegration is that whomever the important people are in the young person’s life, whether a parent or another guardian, or another family member or close friend, staff include them as an important part of service planning. Staff spoke about “valuing the youth” in all that they do and always approaching the youth with empathy and sensitivity.”
What CCA says about Working Together:
Point in Time has cultivated valuable community partnerships, consistent with the centre’s overarching purpose. “The reviewers found the work in Youth Engagement and the Youth Hub to be a prime example of a very robust, creative, and well-resourced program and service.”
“Reviewers heard about the efforts that PinT makes to understand the needs of the community and provides new programs and services or adjusts those that they offer to meet the needs or address gaps in service. A good example of this was the creation of the Quick Access Clinic to ensure individuals have an immediate connection to service rather than sitting on a wait list.
About our Cultural Sensitivity:
In an interview, one client cited that Point in Time was the only service among many that had respected the family’s cultural orientation in how it proposed, planned and delivered services.
About Innovation:
There was strong evidence of this agency’s willingness to innovate. One example is the joint initiative “Mindfulness Martial Arts,” which the organization is conducting in the region’s high school jointly with Integra.
Concluding Comments from our CCA Accreditations Teams Present and Past:
“The reviewers heard positive feedback from clients and their families regarding PinT staff and programs and services. Parents shared that their workers were ‘awesome’, and open to questions and guidance. Families felt respected. They shared that PinT does much for the community. Many families commented on PinT being like a family”.
“Point in Time strives to live its mission and vision for services to children, youth and parents, and is highly successful. Point in Time is an exemplary organization, with a committed board, staff, management and executive director. It is clear this organization is valued in its community. Point in Time has built a healthy organization and actualized its standards and mission in a way that is consistent with the distinct nature of the rural community it serves.”