Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina (BCH) received its reaccreditation in February by the Council on Accreditation (COA).
“Accreditation is the highest form of validation and affirmation of excellence that an agency like ours can have,” said Michael C. Blackwell, BCH president. “It affirms that Baptist Children’s Homes is among the elite in providing the highest possible quality of services to children and families.”
In addition, the ministry was given a perfect score in its final evaluation.
COA is an independent, non-for-profit accrediting body accrediting more than 1,500 private and public organizations serving children, individuals and families in the USA and Canada. The reaccreditation process occurs every four years. BCH received its first accreditation in 1987 and has been accredited ever since.
From February 13-16, COA’s three-member review team visited BCH’s statewide locations conducting detailed examinations of the nonprofit’s residential services, administrative functions, and facilities, including interviewing 65 staff members, residents and trustees.
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BCH photo
Baptist Children’s Homes (BCH) has been reaccredited by the Council on Accreditation of Services for Family and Children (COA). Preparation and planning for the process was led by BCH’s reaccreditationteam: (from left) Bond Kiser, coordinator of performance and quality improvement; Michael C. Blackwell, BCH president; Wendy Campbell, coordinator of program development and compliance; and Nancy McNeill, executive vice president, operations. |
Blackwell received notification of the successful reaccreditation less than 50 hours after reviewers completed their visits. It traditionally takes more time for an organization to receive its results from COA.
“We scored perfect on all of the 667 individual standards COA required us to meet,” Blackwell said. “We did not receive a single written demerit.”
Representatives must evaluate their findings and prepare a written review citing any issues discovered during the process. In BCH’s case, as explained in the February 18 email sent to Blackwell by COA president Richard Klarberg, there were no faults to cite. “Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina, Inc. was expedited through the Pre-Commission Review Report process as a result of not receiving any out of compliance ratings in any of the fundamental practice standards,” Klarberg stated in his email. “Congratulations on this amazing achievement.”
Blackwell says that among the standout comments from reviewers was a glowing statement regarding BCH’s intentional Christian focus. “This particular reviewer said that out of all the faith-based organizations he has examined, none of them were on par with BCH when it came to our commitment to carrying out ministry.”
The reaccreditation process is a necessary one for BCH and other similar agencies. “It moves Baptist Children’s Homes into a status of excellence that few organizations have achieved,” Blackwell said. “It sets us apart and communicates to our churches, supporters and friends that settling for second best will never be an option when it comes to providing the highest level of care to children and families.”
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