Organizations are asked to meet a common set of Organizational Standards, as well as standards specific to their family service programs and services.
The Organizational Standards look at the whole agency, and cover things like governance, management, planning, quality improvement, and important risk management functions. The standards also look for person-centred services, a strength-based approach, accessibility of services, and engagement and responsiveness to the communities served.
The Counselling and Groups Services standards apply to an agency’s family counselling services and group programs and services. Standards assess areas such as accessibility and intake, service planning, counselling approach, methodologies and modalities, record keeping, educational background and experience of staff, and supervision, consultation and support to professional staff. There are standards specific to e-counselling and group services.
Family service agencies that offer employee assistance are also asked to meet a set of standards specific to employee assistance providers. The employee assistance service provision component assesses areas such as service planning, provision of critical incident/trauma interventions, orientation and education of clients’ personnel, staffing levels and support for staff providing EAP services, and record keeping.
