Palatine's Countryside Association Earns Accreditation

CARF International announced that Countryside Association for People with Disabilities has been accredited for a period of three years for several of its programs.

The latest accreditation is the twelfth consecutive Three-Year Accreditation that the international accrediting body has awarded to Countryside Association, a press release from Countryside states.

Human service providers that are CARF accredited demonstrate to the community that they are committed to continually improving services, encouraging feedback from stakeholders, and serving the broad and changing needs of the community. This accreditation decision represents the highest level of accreditation that can be awarded to an organization and shows the Countryside’s substantial conformance to the CARF standards, resulting in community services that are of the highest quality, the press release states.

In late June, a two-member CARF team performed an on-site rigorous review of Countryside Association’s program and services structure as well as administrative practices. The team spent three days with Countryside, visiting the agency’s Palatine and Waukegan campuses and meeting with program participants and their families, community employers, staff, and board members.

The report summary had this to say: “On balance, Countryside provides high quality services and is highly regarded by persons served, family members, and other stakeholders. The organization is under the direction of a well-organized administration and board of directors. Through good hiring practices and ongoing training, the organization is able to ensure that personnel providing direct services are the best available. Through the very capable leadership of the organization, Countryside has been able to meet the challenges it faces while exploring expansion opportunities and securing its position in the community.”

Countryside’s three-year accredited services for the period of 2011-2014 fall into two categories: Employment Services and Community Services. The Employment Services area encompasses employment transition services, organizational employment services, and community employment, which includes job supports, job site training, and job development. Countryside also received accreditation for its community integration services and supports offered to older adults with disabilities, the press release states.

Countryside’s Executive Director, Wayne Kulick, is thrilled about this accomplishment: “While working in a state that seems to measure quality based on catching providers doing something wrong, it’s refreshing and uplifting for our dedicated employees to hear all the things they do so well.” In fact, the surveyors who spent time evaluating Countryside’s services made no recommendations, which signifies they did not identify any areas of nonconformance to CARF standards. According to the award letter, “This is an extraordinary accomplishment, as only 3 percent of CARF surveys result in no recommendations.”

To learn more about Countryside’s programs and services, visit www.countrysideassn.org. For additional information about CARF or to learn how you can support the renovation and expansion of Countryside Center in Palatine, contact Wayne Kulick, Executive Director, at (847) 540-3701.