Bredesen Announces DCS Accreditation

 

NASHVILLE – Governor Phil Bredesen in his State of the State Address Monday announced the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services has received accreditation from the Council on Accreditation, an international, independent, not-for-profit, child- and family-service and behavioral health care accrediting organization.

 

Tennessee’s Department of Children Services is the seventh state-administered agency to receive COA accreditation. State-administered agencies in Kentucky, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri and West Virginia are currently accredited by the organization.

 

“This is a real achievement for the Department of Children’s Services and speaks to the tremendous progress that’s been made under the leadership of Viola Miller,” said Bredesen. “The people of Tennessee can take both pride and comfort in knowing the people responsible for managing the cases of abused and neglected children have met these high standards.”

 

COA reviewed the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services under nationally-recognized standards of best practice. Using performance and quality improvement measures, DCS completed an extensive self-assessment of its operational policies, practices and processes that was utilized by peer reviewers to assess their sufficiency. On-site peer reviews began in 2008 and were conducted in the DCS central office and each of the 13 regions of the department, beginning with the Northeast Region and concluding in Shelby County.

 

Peer review assessments are conducted by experienced public child welfare experts from around the country who conduct both interviews and site visits. Organizations seeking accreditation are reviewed against almost 770 standards in 18 categories, including administration and management, ethical practice, financial management, client rights, adoption services, child protective services, foster care, group living services, residential treatment services, case management, juvenile justice case management and others.

 

“This is a tribute to the dedication and professionalism of our staff,” said Dr. Miller, commissioner of the Department of Children’s Services. “The self-assessment process is a tough one that required us to examine what we were doing well and where we needed to improve. As a result, we instituted continuous quality improvement practices throughout the department that will help ensure the safety and well-being of the children we serve.”

 

The COA studies how an agency operates, makes decisions and treats its clients to determine whether it is using the best practices and policies in the field of public child welfare. Achieving and maintaining accreditation enables an agency to demonstrate its willingness to open itself to national experts and prove its high performance and accountability. 

Other improvements made by DCS as outcomes of its self-assessment include:

“These process modifications have resulted in practical changes like improvements to our facilities, closer scrutiny of the driving records, registration and auto insurance held by staff who transport children, and a requirement for the agencies with which we contract to become accredited, as well,” said Miller.

 

Learn more about the Council on Accreditation at http://www.coastandards.org/about.php.