What is COA?

Marion County Children Services is one of a handful of Children Services agencies in Ohio that have received the official “stamp of approval” from the national Council on Accreditation (COA) .

COA is an independent, not-for-profit child and family service accrediting organization that champions quality services for children, youth, and families. To obtain accreditation, Children Services completes a lengthy self-study and is evaluated by a COA team.

Children Services received its second accreditation from the prestigious Council on Accreditation in 2008 and is in effect through 2012.

Why become accredited?

A few benefits to obtaining accreditation include:

• Improved service delivery utilizing “best practice” standards
• Improved internal procedures resulting in ongoing quality improvement programs
• Increased accountability
• Reduction of hidden costs
• Efficient delivery of services

Achieving accreditation helps to ensure that children and families receive the highest quality services from Marion County Children Services.

For more, visit www.coastandards.org