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NFSB Begins Accreditation Process to Bring Highest Standard of Care to the Nutley Community
Nutley Family Service Bureau (NFSB) is excited to announce that we are going through an accreditation process that will ensure all areas of the organization are functioning according to best practices. We’re partnering with Social Current (formerly Council on Accreditation), which has been accrediting human service organizations for decades, to navigate this process.
The accreditation is being funded by a grant from the Partners for Health Foundation, a Montclair-based organization committed to funding local organizations like NFSB to ensure communities in our area receive the highest quality care.“This is wonderful news for NFSB,” said Katherine Carmichael, Executive Director of NFSB. “NFSB is over 100 years old and has been accredited throughout our history, beginning in the 1940s. Accreditation by an outside professional body will ensure all areas of the organization are meeting the highest industry standards and best practices recognized by federal and state governments.”
Accreditation involves a comprehensive review of our mental health services at The Center, Case Management, The Pantry, The Shop, governance, human resources, finance, administration, and more. Social Current will connect NFSB to a current best practice framework that many similar size nonprofits don’t have, which will allow NFSB to apply insights gained through accreditation to continuously improve.“We’re a small but growing local mental health and human services nonprofit,” Katherine said. “As an independent, community-based organization, we don’t have the resources that come with being affiliated with a large regional health system or national nonprofit. Our partnership with Social Current will bring us a framework and valuable resources to help us align with current best practices.”
An Overview of the Accreditation Process
A Social Current consultant who is experienced in the field of mental health and human services will work with NFSB leadership and our internal continuous quality improvement team.
The initial intake process will assign professional standards that NFSB will be required to meet. There will be a 12-month process of self-study, which will involve a review of all policies and procedures. Next summer, we’ll host a site visit in which peer reviewers from other organizations who volunteer for Social Current will spend a few days with NFSB. They’ll review our materials and processes and conduct interviews with staff, the board, clients, and others.After the site visit, Social Current will analyze the information collected and make recommendations for accreditation.
What Accreditation Means for Clients and Donors
Accreditation by Social Current, one of the leading accrediting bodies in the human service space, will validate that we deliver high-quality services, stay current with research-informed best practice and are committed to quality improvement.
The mission of the Partners for Health Foundation is to help people overcome health inequities and receive high-quality care. By going through this year-long process of self-study and analyzing all our functions, we’re reinforcing NFSB’s commitment to serving the most vulnerable people in the community with the highest level of care.
A core focus of the accreditation process will be client service and client voice. NFSB will make sure client feedback is encouraged, heard, and valued so we can tailor our services to meet their needs.“We hope accreditation will strengthen our administrative capacity and enable us to provide more services for the community in the future. We need strong, healthy administrative capacity to sustain NFSB for another 100 years” Katherine said. “What I like most about Social Current’s process is that it is driven by a commitment to best practice in every aspect of organizational life, from direct services, to support services to management and board oversight, and that the process is peer-driven. I mean that the standards are developed by peers, people working in, and leading agencies like ours. Any opportunity to connect with experienced peers in the human services field strengthens our team’s professional learning and continuous quality improvement”
“We’re excited to go on this journey with Social Current, and we’re grateful for the grant from Partners for Health,” Katherine said. “Accreditation will help us build on an already strong foundation and make a bigger difference in the Nutley community.”
