CARF Results 2009

News & Press Releases

Stone Belt Receives 3-Year CARF-CCAC Accreditation

CARF–CCAC announced that Stone Belt has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation. This latest accreditation is the 7th consecutive 3-year accreditation that CARF–CCAC has been awarded to Stone Belt.

An organization receiving a three-year term of accreditation has voluntarily put itself through a rigorous peer review process and demonstrated to a team of surveyors during an on-site survey that it is committed to conforming to CARF–CCAC’s accreditation conditions and standards. Furthermore, an organization that earns CARF–CCAC accreditation is commended on its quest for quality programs and services.

The Continuing Care Accreditation Commission (CCAC) was founded in 1985 as the nation’s only accrediting body for continuing care retirement communities and similar organizations. In January 2003, CCAC merged with the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), a nonprofit accreditor founded in 1966 that touches close to 6 million individuals served in a wide range of human service organizations.

For more information about the accreditation process, please visit the CARF website at www.carf.org, the CARF–CCAC website at www.carf.org/aging, or the CARF Canada website at www.carfcanada.ca.

Survey Summary

The following Survey Summary is from the 2009 Accrediation Report provided by CARF-CCAC.

Stone Belt Arc, Inc., has strengths in many areas.

The board of directors is capable and mission focused. It is evident that members of the board work hard, take their responsibilies very seriously, understand their purpose in setting policies and providing guidance, and are committed to the well-being of personnel and the persons receiving services. A board self-evaluation is conducted annually and is effectively utilized for continuous improvement.
The executive director has significant longevity with the organization and held many roles before becoming the executive director. This provides her with a thorough understanding of the challenges and realities associated with optimizing services with limited resources. She is well known and highly regarded in the region and is respected for her leadership, vision, and commitment to Stone Belt Arc by teh persons served and funding and referral sources. Her involvement in local and sate-wide advocacy efforts is noteworthy.
The organization is commended for its efforts to seek input and be responsive to the individuals served and other stakeholders. It is abundantly clear that personnel are available to and communicate regularly with stakeholders.
Stone Belt Arc has in place the essential elements of an effective health and safety program, including management commitment, employee involvement, training, and hazard prevention and control. It is evident that the organization's health and safety program goes beyond mere compliance with regulatory requirements and provides an environment that protects the health and safety of persons served, personnel, and visitors.
The organization is involved in a wide variety of community activities to promote its mission, vision and values. Particularly impressive is the Hand in Hand program that provides persons served the opportunity to contribute to their community through meaningful volunteer activities. Another noteworthy project was the "I Am You" event, which featured an evening of monologues from individuals served by Stone Belt Arc. These types of projects offer individuals with disabilities the chance to contribute to their communities and display their talents in unique and empowering ways.
The organization is commended for its human resources program. It is evident that personnel are involved and engaged in the success of Stone Belt Arc and the persons they serve. The organization works extremely hard to recruit and retain qualified personnel.
Through careful planning and adherence to sound fiscal practices, the organization operates in a financially responsible manner. The monthly financial reports prepared for the board of directors are extremely thorough but readily understandable and give readers a clear picture of the financial standing of the organization.
Commendation is due to the organization for its development of Principles of Service. These principles provide guidance for the organization and are clearly core elements of the organization's culture.
The employment services staff members are highly motivated and dedicated professionals who are willing to take on any task to assist the persons served in meeting their goals. They are commended for developing work sites that allow for a variety of vocational options, with sites matching the person's identified preferences, strengths, and needs.
The organizational employment program benefits from a medial supply NISH contract. This contract provdes a variety of work opportunities based on the level of skills needed to complete each project.
Organizational personnel do an excellent job of identifying risk and planning with persons and families to minimize risk factors as they progress to community-based work settings.
There is good collaboration throughout the organization to maximize the benefits to be gained by each person served regardless of obstacles that are presented. Stone Belt Arc provides excellent, individualized training services to individuals who want to develop and/or enhance their employment skills.
The enthusiasm with which staff members do their work is impressive and infectious. The longevity of so many personnel and their commitment to the mission clearly show that Stone Belt Arc has a positive influence in the lives of staff members, which ultimately leads to successful service delivery and outcomes for all stakeholders.
The organization is especiallty proactive in developing and maintaining relationships within the community for purposes of advocating for the individuals served. The organization also has a very strong and active self-advocacy group that has representatives on boards at the local, regional and state levels.
Communication at the organization is very open, and it is apparent that the communication flows interchangeably between direct support staff and management of the organization. The organization makes extra efforts to keep all of its employees informed.
Referral sources state that Stone Belt Arc personnel work in a cooperative and collaborative manner and that staff members are friendly, respectful and knowledgeable. They appreciate the organization's ability to meet the behavioral health needs in the community by developing the Milestones program. Referral sources also complimented Stone Belt Arc on its experience and willingness to work in a creative manner with participants who are difficult to serve.
The organization is commended for its active involvement in Association of Persons in Supported Employment (APSE). Employers and participants have been the recipients of Indiana awards over the years. Employment staff and managers are active participants in local advisory boards, coalitions, and councils and are thoroughly familiar with local community resources. The result of its community involvement is the creation of effective partnerships and collaborative relationships with a variety of agencies and organizations throughout the community and service area.
Stone Belt Arc provides consumers with excellent materials, especially a thorough and attractive consumer handbook. It is also complimented for being willing to accept persons who are considered difficult to serve.
Stone Belt Arc is to be commended for its excellent transition planning. The learning center, located in a classroom at a local community college, enables students to experience inclusion prior to exiting high school. Collaborative job development is conducted with some of the high schools in the service area, and other students are involved with the organization through work study programs. The organization has recently been awarded a Project Search grant. This grant will afford the organization another effective opportunity to assist students in transition.
The organization is recognized for the strong behavioral support programs that are provided. The program plans are very comprehensive and address the many needs of the consumers served.
It is impressive that the organization has two psychiatrists on staff. Feedback from both the persons served and their families along with feedback from the community stakeholders indicated a high level of appreciation for this fine service.

In the following areas Stone Belt Arc demonstrates exemplary conformance to the standards.

Commendation is due Stone Belt Arc for the excellent strategic plan that it has created. Thsi document articulates the organization's vision and values and includes a series of action plans to achieve the vision while adhering to those values. The plan provides a sense of direction and helps Stone Belt Arc to assume a proactive posture for the future. An impressive feature of the document is that it offers standards of accountability for personnel, programs, and allocated resources.
Stone Belt Arc is commended for the comprehensive risk management plan it has developed. Thsi plan foresees the variety of risks that the organization faces and creates response plans to mitigate them. Organizational personnel periodically review the plan in order to avoid having the analysis becoem stale and not reflective of potential project risks.
Stone Belt Arc is commended for its excellent art program. This program is multifaceted and provides an opportunity for individuals to express their individuality through various art forms, provides a revenue source for the organization, and has also become a well-known and vital part of the Bloomington community. Stone Belt Arc has been commissioned to do mosaic portraits of city officials and has been commissioned to do artwork that is permanently placed in city parks and the recently revitalized downtown area.

Stone Belt Arc should seek improvement in the areas identified by the recommendations in the report. Consultation given does not indicate nonconformance to standards but is offered as a suggestion for further quality improvement.

On balance, Stone Belt Arc is generally in conformance to the standards. This organization has strong and experienced leadership and personnel who are highly motivated and work diligently to achieve positive outcomes for the individuals served. The organization is greatly respected by funders and referral sources and enjoys the confidence of the persons served and family members. Stone Belt Arc is involved in extensive planning efforts on a number of fronts, all designed to enhance the quality of services and secure the future of the organization. Most of the recommendations contained in this report are in the behavioral health outpatient program, a new service for the organization, for which it is seeking accreditation for the first time. As noted in the body of this report, the majority of these recommendations occurred because of the organization's failure to put its service plans into writing. The organizations recognizes the importance of documenting its service plans, and it appears that the organization has both the capability and desire to quickly address these recommendations. The organization has established a pattern of responding positively to recommendations and consultation in previous CARF surveys. This receptivity to recommendations, consultation, and suggestions instills confidence that the organization will use this survey report to further improve organizational and service quality.

Stone Belt Arc, Inc., has earned a Three-Year Accreditation. Congratulations are extended to the staff members, executive team, and the board of directors on this accomplishment. Encouragement is given to the organization to continue to use the CARF standards as a blueprint for the development of further services and to promote continuous quality improvement.

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