Providing help and creating hope in Maine
Portland, ME -- Catholic Charities Maine has achieved national re-accreditation through the New York-based Council on Accreditation (COA) an independent, not-for-profit accreditor of the full continuum of community-based behavioral health care and social service organizations.
Accredited by the Council since 1988, Catholic Charities Maine continues to participate in the Council’s voluntary and lengthy review process to ensure it is fulfilling its mission to deliver excellence in all categories of services — from mental health and substance use disorder treatment to senior outreach and child development.
Reviewer comments regarding the Agency as a whole included: “there is a strong commitment to ethical practice across the organization;” that CCM’s “financial management is characterized by a high degree of transparency” and that “the organization has exceeded expectations and they have become an organization other organizations have come to look to.”
“Receiving the accreditation again, with this level of affirmation from our reviewers speaks to our commitment to providing the very best services and ensuring we exceed our clients expectations for those services,” says Stephen Letourneau, CEO of Catholic Charities Maine. “And I am particularly proud of our 613 employees statewide since reviewer comments noted: ‘It is evident that services are delivered by a team of compassionate and skilled individuals who are knowledgeable, responsive, and committed’ which I know to be a true reflection of our staff,” he adds.
Catholic Charities Maine provides social services throughout Maine around mental health, counseling, substance use disorders, senior outreach, child development, food insecurity and refugee and immigration, among others.
Organizations pursue accreditation to demonstrate the implementation of best practice standards in the field of human services. COA evaluated all aspects of Catholic Charities Maine’s programs, services, management, and administration.
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, Catholic Charities Maine 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 Catholic Charities Maine had again successfully met the criteria for accreditation. Catholic Charities Maine’s current designation will be honored through 2021.
About the Council of Accreditation
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. Over 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.
About Catholic Charities Maine
For more than 50 years, Catholic Charities Maine has provided high-quality, community-based, social services to people of all faiths, beliefs, and economic backgrounds. As one of the largest human service agencies in the state, we are committed to helping children and adults overcome adversity and achieve self-sufficiency. More than .91 of every dollar we receive goes directly to serving our neighbors in need. To learn more, please visit www.ccmaine.org or call 1-800-781-8550.
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