Foothill Family Achieves National Re-Accreditation

Foothill Family has achieved national accreditation through the New York-based Council on Accreditation (COA). Serving the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys, Glendale, and Burbank through programs supporting mental health care, early childhood development, school-based behavioral health, and youth and family services, Foothill Family employees committed more than a year and countless hours to earn accreditation. Organizations pursue accreditation to demonstrate the implementation of best practice standards in the field of human services. COA evaluated all aspects of Foothill Family’s programs, services, management, and administration.

“Foothill Family considers national re-accreditation through COA to be a tremendous achievement,” said Steve Allen, Foothill Family Chief Executive Officer. “As a trusted leader in behavioral healthcare celebrating 90 years of service in our community, we are proud to be recognized as a provider that successfully adheres to high performance standards and delivers top-quality care to its clients.”

COA accreditation is an objective, independent, and reliable 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.

To achieve COA accreditation, Foothill Family first provided written evidence of compliance with the COA standards. Thereafter, a group of specially trained volunteer peer reviewers confirmed adherence to these standards during a series of on-site interviews with trustees, staff and clients.

Based on their findings, COA’s volunteer-based Accreditation Commission voted that Foothill Family had successfully met the criteria for accreditation for the maximum term through 2019.

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 health care and social service organizations in the United States and Canada. More than 2,000 organizations — voluntary, public, and proprietary; local and statewide; large and small — 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, please visit www.COAnet.org.

Foothill Family was founded in 1926 and provides a range of community-based mental health and social services to at-risk populations in the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys, Glendale, and Burbank. Its mission, to build brighter futures for children and families, has helped Foothill Family earn a reputation for providing high-quality services aimed at empowering families and strengthening communities. Programs include mental health and school-based counseling for children, child abuse prevention and treatment, domestic violence prevention and treatment, early child development programs, services for pregnant teens and their babies, family counseling, and youth development. Last year, more than 24,000 children and their families benefited from Foothill Family’s life-changing programs. For more information, please call (626) 993-3000 or visit the website at www.foothillfamily.org.