5/6/2021
May 6 12, 2021, is Nurses Week. CARF recognizes the profound impact the nursing field has across health and human services.
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11/13/2019
With a growing aging population, many adult children and other loved ones step up to provide care, but family caregivers take on a significant amount of work in addition to regular jobs and family responsibilities, which can lead to extreme burnout.
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7/25/2019
Social determinants of health (SDH) are the conditions in which people live, work, and age and include factors like housing stability, employment status, geographic location, education, and other socioeconomic circumstances. SDH, often determined by distribution of wealth and resources, has proven responsible for inequities in healthcare and has become its biggest cost-driver.
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3/14/2019
By CARF International
The CARF Connection blog often discusses integrative
services and ways to approach a person in a holistic way. In other words, we
focus on many of the things that social workers have been advocating since the
era of Jane Addams in the 1890s. It is no wonder that CARF’s workforce is
teeming with social work professionals.
This March, CARF joins the National Association of Social
Workers in celebrating social workers.
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2/25/2019
By CARF International
With healthcare information more
widely available than ever, consumers are boosting their health literacy,
taking the initiative to educate themselves more thoroughly on how to take care
of themselves. Here are some suggestions for taking control of your own health
literacy.
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2/13/2019
By CARF International
CARF shares best practices related to outcomes management through
its standards. To complement that effort, here are some recent field examples
of outcomes systems’ improving performance.
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12/20/2018
By CARF International
As 2018 comes to a close, we thank the many stakeholders who
spent another year advancing the goals and values close to CARF’s mission. In a
brief look back, here are some of the most consequential stories from 2018.
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12/4/2018
By CARF International
Services for the UnderServed used accreditation standards
as part of a wholesale commitment to performance management. Now the
organization is well positioned to market itself within value-based and other
outcomes-based payment models.
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11/29/2018
By CARF International
Many payers are exploring value- and performance-based
payment models in which providers are reimbursed for positive outcomes. Most
analysts believe such payment systems, which offer lower costs for payers, are
the wave of the future.
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11/14/2018
By CARF International
Data show that employers are hesitant to hire people who
have disabilities. That’s unfortunate, since having a disability doesn’t
necessarily preclude a person from performing well in the workplace. And
employers’ failure to recognize that can lead to missed opportunities on both
sides.
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5/24/2018
By CARF International
Take advantage of the professional development resource
offered to CARF-accredited organizations, and encourage your emerging leaders
to become CARF surveyors.
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5/17/2018
By CARF International
A recent report discusses the future of community-based
human services. The first four initiatives are directly supported by CARF
standards, meaning, if you’re a CBO applying the standards for accreditation,
you’re likely strengthening the overall ecosystem. Here are the standards and
other CARF resources that can offer guidance to your organization.
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4/10/2018
By CARF International
Surveyors representing health and human service organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada attended the 2018 CARF Surveyor Continuing Education Conference on March 24 and 25 at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort in beautiful Tucson, Arizona.
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4/3/2018
By Cassie Roach, Safe Parking Program Coordinator, New Beginnings Counseling Center
The New Beginnings Safe Parking Program in Santa Barbara
provides shelter and housing to the vehicular homeless population. The program
utilizes empty parking lots that would otherwise remain unused at night. Each
night, the program shelters more than 150 individuals and families who live in
their vehicles.
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2/28/2018
CARF’s winter Transforming Outcomes Institute concluded on February 24.
It hosted more than 100 participants in Tucson, AZ. Here’s a visual breakdown of the
training.
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11/8/2017
By Betty O'Keefe, publications & communications, CARF International
Standards for business practices in health and human services are
robust and forward-looking in the CARF model. However, this important
area can be underemphasized or overlooked entirely by other accreditors.
David Wilber, executive director of Diversified Enterprises and long-time CARF
surveyor, witnessed
the difference in results and volunteered his perspective for the white
paper Developing sophisticated systems for success, recently published by BB&T Capital Markets. In the following
article, Wilber describes his path to understanding how CARF is a
differentiator for organizations seeking to survive, compete, and thrive in
this increasingly complex service arena.
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9/1/2017
We at CARF are deeply concerned about the many lives
affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, natural disasters of significant scope and scale.
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8/23/2017
We spoke with three former CARF
surveyors who are now CARF staff members. They shared some interesting context
on themselves and why they first got into surveying
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9/16/2016
Responsible, quality-based practitioners in the health and human services industry should educate and train themselves to act in a responsible and timely manner when presented with a person at risk for suicide. We know through research that applying evidence-based practice and delivering comprehensive and integrated prevention programs can reduce the rate of suicide. In regard to Suicide Prevention Month, please access CARF’s Quality Practice Notice on Suicide Prevention for first step resources to saving a life.
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6/21/2016
Telecommunications and data management technology has
unavoidably made its way into healthcare industries because it can increase
consumer access to services and providers’ ability to provide them. Many
providers are successfully incorporating technological solutions, which is why
CARF has made an effort to highlight practices related to this topic in the Promising Practices newsletter series. This blog
post features some articles that highlight successful uses of technology to
improve business practices or service delivery.
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5/31/2016
A major story so far in 2016 has been the change in service
delivery models toward larger systems and networks through affiliations,
mergers, and various other types of integrations. Providers are forming
relationships across multiple sectors to expand their reach and provide services
more efficiently to a broader population. The changing environment poses
challenges for providers as they find themselves operating within a new service
infrastructure or environment. This trend is of particular interest to CARF
because it poses quality questions for providers across a spectrum of
industries.
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4/8/2016
After your programs or services have earned CARF accreditation, you will want to market and advertise your achievement to your community and stakeholders. CARF provides resources that can help you promote your accreditation, including guidelines for citing your accreditation, example news release and letter text, and several CARF seal options. This blog post explains how to properly use and display the CARF seals of accreditation in your online and printed materials.
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3/10/2016
CARF’s managing director of employment and community services, Pete
Hathaway, spoke with Steve Hill, CEO of ABC
Inc. in Rochester, Minnesota. Steve has been a CARF surveyor for nearly 40
years, and recently announced that he will be retiring at the end of April,
2016. Steve was asked to reflect on his time working and surveying in the
employment and community services field. As part of CARF’s 50th year anniversary, we
will be sharing snapshots of the industries in which we offer accreditation
services. This is part 3 of that series: Employment and Community Services.
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11/21/2013
Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin created the Circles of Care program to address its employees' life challenges -- whether their difficulty is emotional, spiritual, psychological, physical, or financial.
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2/12/2013
Showcasing a sensory processing approach for improving the lives of
persons with autism. This approach was presented at a CARF employment and community services conference in 2012.
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11/28/2012
The Spectrum Network in Decorah, Iowa, recognized numerous and diverse storytelling voices when it published From My Perspective: Essays About Disability. The book celebrates the stories of persons with disabilities, their parents and caregivers, and rehabilitation professionals. This
publication was presented at a CARF employment and community services conference
in 2012.
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10/24/2012
By Maria Walker, Employment Program Planner, Polk County Health Services
To paraphrase a popular
book title, it takes a village to reduce the large unemployment rate for
persons with mental illness and intellectual or other developmental
disabilities. Increasing employment opportunities for these individuals is
every service provider’s responsibility. Polk County Health Services (PCHS) in
the Des Moines, Iowa, area works with a network of providers in the community
to increase employment outcomes. This approach was presented at a CARF
employment and community services conference in 2012.
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10/4/2012
A blend of retail and
rehabilitation is a recipe for creating a social enterprise -- a social service
organization that operates a revenue-generating business to fund the
organization’s mission. Cornucopia, Inc., has been using the model for decades.
This business was presented at a CARF employment and community services
conference in 2012.
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9/12/2012
Bosma Enterprises is
removing the fear and mystery of using computers for persons served. Four years
ago, the organization launched a Build-A-Computer program designed to help
persons who are blind or visually impaired become confident in using computers. This
program was presented at a CARF employment and community services conference
in 2012.
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2/1/2012
Recognition of the
positive roles that employment and supported education play in promoting
recovery for persons with mental illness is increasing among organizations like
Optimae LifeServices in Iowa. This program was presented at a CARF employment
and community services conference in 2012.
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