PEKIN
FIELD OFFICE BECOMES ACCREDITED
Pekin,
IL, JUNE 16, 199 -- The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
announced today that its Pekin Field Office has been fully accredited
by the renowned New York City-based Council on Accreditation of Services
for Families and Children.
"This was no small accomplishment," said DCFS Director Jess
McDonald, who
presented
an accreditation plaque to field staff personnel and honored them for
their ongoing hard work in maintaining accreditation standards.
"Accreditation
involves thousands of hours refining field office operations to ensure
that it meets a set of rigorous, nationally established requirements
that cover every
issue,
from personnel to safety to fiscal and program management," he
said.
The
Pekin Field Office, located at #1 South Capitol Street, is a 26-person
office responsible for serving Tazewell and Woodford Counties. It is
among 23 of approximately 90 DCFS field offices to have thus far attained
this esteemed stamp of approval, which the Department is striving to
attain for every field office in the state, as well as the private child
welfare agencies it contracts with.
Reaching
this ultimate goal would make Illinois the first state in the nation
to have all of its child welfare offices, both public and private, accredited.
The process is lengthy. Once a field office is targeted for accreditation,
year-long preparation begins, which includes reviewing every aspect
of how work is carried out by the office, examining in detail such aspects
as how well clients and the community are being served, reviewing how
well cases are documented and filed, and reviewing how well staff are
trained. The process requires input from the entire staff, as well as
outside participants such as court officials and foster parents.
COA
examiners visited the Pekin site in May 1998 to see if it measured
up
to standards. They later presented their findings to the national COA
panel. The Pekin Office received written verification of its accreditation
earlier this year.
"The
Pekin staff have really worked hard to achieve COA accreditation,"
said DCFS Central Region Administrator Don Vacca. "Their dedication
has been tremendous, and the results have meant our clients are receiving
better services."
Benefits
to accreditation include increased client participation, improved case
management and documentation, and improved internal operations and accountability.
Additionally, accreditation builds confidence by clients, foster and
adoptive parents, community members, the courts and other child welfare
advocates in DCFS services.
"I
am extremely proud of the Pekin Field Office," said McDonald. "Their
ongoing dedication to maintaining accreditation not only speaks to their
professionalism, but it attests to others that DCFS strives to deliver
the very best quality in child welfare services."
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