3 – Year Accreditation Awarded in 2015

Our three year accreditation certificate through CARF Can be downloaded here.

CARF has awarded AiMHi a 3–year accreditation for its Employment Planning Services, Organizational Employment Services, Community Employment Services, Host Family/ Shared Living Services, Respite Services, Community Housing Services, Supported Living Services, Community Integration, Community Youth Development Services, Early Childhood Development Services and Intensive Family Based Services.

This accreditation outcome, which represents the highest level of accreditation, is awarded to organizations that show substantial fulfillment of the standards established by CARF. An organization receiving a Three-Year Accreditation outcome has put itself through a rigorous peer review process and has demonstrated that its programs and services are of the highest quality, measurable, and accountable. Further, an organization accredited for three years clearly indicates that present conditions represent an established pattern of total operations that is likely to be maintained or improved in the foreseeable future.

The process of Accreditation has been a positive experience for everyone involved. We gained opportunities to build on our strengths, to identify areas for improvement in service standards, and then, to implement changes accordingly.

Thank you to all of the people who receive services, their families, employees of AiMHi and community members who contributed to AiMHi’s successful accreditation process. It would not have been possible without everyone’s involvement.

What is Accreditation?

Any organization that contracts with the BC government to fund services of $500,000.00 or more is required to seek accreditation from a certified organization.

This certificate, if earned, provides proof that the organization is fulfilling it’s contract with Community Living BC and/ or Ministry of Children and Families in the best possible way and meets all standards set forth by the company examining (surveying) what we do. The Ministry will then continue to contract with AiMHi

AiMHi started the process of getting ready for Accreditation in November of 2000.

Accreditation is the process of obtaining outside feedback of how well an agency does business on a day to day basis. AiMHi has entered into an agreement with CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) to examine every aspect of this organization and to ensure that we are providing our services in the best possible way.

CARF provides a manual consisting of a set of standards of practice that make it very clear how we are expected to conduct the daily business of AiMHi.

Accreditation is a judgment how well AiMHi provides the services we are contracted to provide. We examine every aspect of our services.

Successful Accreditation means a three-year certificate from CARF.

Who is CARF?

The company that we have contracted with to examine our organization.

CARF provides this service to thousands of service-providing organizations internationally.

CARF has three core values and all of their standards are based on these values:

All people have the right to be treated with dignity and respect.
All people should have access to needed services that achieve optimum outcomes.
All people should be empowered to exercise informed choice.

The main purpose of CARF is to promote quality services for persons being served, their families, and employees, through accreditation.

What Are The Benefits of Accreditation?

Some of the benefits of Accreditation are:

An assurance on the part of persons seeking services and their families that our organization meets accepted person-focused standards that emphasize an integrated and individualized approach to services and outcomes.
Accountability to Community Living BC and/or the Ministry for Children and Families and to the community.
Continuous quality improvement through the application of CARF standards.
Guidance for responsible management and professional growth of personnel.
Support from CARF through consultation, publications, training opportunities, and newsletters.

AiMHi is striving to be the “best that we can be”. We value everyone’s input by having suggestion boxes, sending out satisfaction surveys, supporting employees and the people we support to participate in committees, and holding fun get-togethers such as, AiMHi Picnics, Potlucks and Dances.

Hopefully, we are able to encourage enthusiasm as well as knowledge for accreditation at the same time.