Accreditation

November 2023

Family Transition Place (FTP) has just completed the document submission for our 3rd Focus Accreditation scheduled for the spring of 2024. The last four years have been a fantastic journey!
 
The process of preparing for this accreditation has been a little more challenging than in the past as there have been so many changes over the last four years: a whole new set of standards, new programs and services added to our agency, and, of course, the pandemic, which changed not only our physical shelter units but also the way we deliver services to our community clients. We have learned a lot about the resilience of our clients, staff and community over the past four years and have taken this learning as an opportunity to “transition” with the changing needs.
 
April 2020
FOCUS Accreditation emblem 2020-2024Our FTP team is absolutely delighted to share the news that we have been re-accredited by FOCUS Accreditation for another four years! We are also proud to share that we are the ONLY organization accredited through FOCUS to obtain a 100% score — two accreditation cycles in a row!
 
We are grateful for the dedication and participation of our staff, volunteers, donors, board members and clients in our accreditation and extend our heartfelt thanks to FOCUS for their dedication and professionalism throughout this process.
 

 

July 2019 

It doesn’t feel that long ago, but we are nearing the end of our 4-year accreditation term and are looking ahead to February 2020 when we will go through the onsite validation for re-accreditation. Our first accreditation in 2016 was a success thanks to the hard work of all the staff and board members and we rely on our team going into our next accreditation.

While preparing for re-accreditation, our initial thoughts were that it would be easier than the first time around. We quickly learned that some of the things we do now and the way we did them four years ago, has  changed. This process is helping to remind us that things are always changing and evolving. We are looking at what we have learned and the growth we have experienced as we review our policies, procedures and guidelines. While doing this, we are looking ahead at the new and unique ways we are providing service and how we may expect to provide service in the future. To give you an example as to how much has changed, we discovered during this self-evaluation that very few of our documents were finalized with the comment “Reviewed – no changes”. The process is helping us “Focus” on how and what we do, and also what we can learn from our experiences.

March 2016

We did it!

We are pleased to inform you that FTP has achieved accreditation for the period March 2016 – March 2020.

Family Transition Place receives 4 year accreditation certificate

FTP receives four-year accreditation

Cheryl Whiteman, Executive Director of FOCUS, comments, “Congratulations to Family Transition Place (FTP) on being awarded the FOCUS 4-year Accreditation. This is the first organization within FOCUS Accreditation to receive 100% in meeting all standards, this is no small feat and the organization can be applauded for ensuring that the organization is achieving high levels of operations. The organization and the community it services can be proud of FTP’s progressive and forward thinking processes and initiatives. The culture of FTP can be attributed to the leadership of Norah Kennedy. Norah is a visionary who is surrounded by a team that clearly demonstrates passion for the clients they serve, advocacy of violence prevention strategies and at the heart of the organization is compassion and understanding for those who are impacted by domestic violence. FTP is elite in the delivery of their services.”

January 2016

Tree with 181 green leaves

181 Standards Completed

The ground outside is white but the FTP accreditation tree is now green! We have recently confirmed completion of all the standards that apply to our agency and are ready to welcome our Focus Accreditation Validators on January 26th. For those wondering about the 3 black leaves that seem to have dropped from the tree, these are standards that do not currently apply to our agency.

Thank you to all who have helped us along our journey through reviewing our processes, reading through our multitude of policies and procedures, providing feedback on our services, completing surveys and encouraging us along the way!

We look forward to reporting back to the people we support, our funders, the community and all stakeholders about future ongoing quality improvement initiatives.

 

September 2015

Tree with 172 green leaves

172 Standards Completed

As fall is approaching the leaves are changing colours at FTP. The FTP accreditation tree is almost completely green with 172 of the 184 standards being completed. Staff and volunteers continue to replace the black leaves with the green leaves and it is lovely seeing the tree come to life.

In addition to this, the on-site visit has been booked. The accreditation team/validators are scheduled to be on site January 26th – January 28th, 2016. Everyone is excited to meet them and go through the process so that we can be one step closer to accreditation. We know our staff and volunteers will welcome them and be prepared for their questions.

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and the updates will continue until we meet our goal. We look forward to being one step closer to being able to say FTP has gained accreditation!

Tree with 119 green leaves

119 Standards Completed

 

February 2015

The ground outside may be white but the FTP accreditation tree is turning greener! We’ve just confirmed the completion of an additional 64 standards (for a total of 119 standards completed to date) and the green leaves are continuing to bloom on our tree. That means we still have 65 standards to complete by the end of this year so we can meet our plan to be accredited before March 2016.

Staff and volunteers are working hard to ensure we have policies, procedures and practices in place to meet, exceed and improve the quality of service at FTP.

 

December 2014

Tree with 55 green leaves

55 Standards Completed

Winter is quickly approaching, but the FTP accreditation tree is blooming! We’ve confirmed the completion of 55 standards and have started to place green leaves on our tree.

On November 24th, at a staff and board pot luck lunch, all those present had the opportunity to remove a black leaf

and replace it with a green leaf to signal the completion of a standard. To date, staff, board members and a student have participated in the “changing of the leaves”.

 

 

 

 

 

October 2014

In line with FTP’s strategic plan for supporting service excellence, we are pleased to announce that we have begun our journey to becoming fully accredited by 2016.

Our research indicated that FOCUS Accreditation was the best “fit” accreditation body for FTP and we began working with them in 2013. The FOCUS accreditation process requires us to look at what we do and how we do it, in order to learn about ourselves and our work. It will identify areas for improving the quality of service to the people we support, funders, the community and all stakeholders.

To track our progress, we have an accreditation tree on Accreditation Tree
display in our main level meeting room that currently has 184 black leaves on it – one leaf for each standard to be met in our accreditation process. A staff member, volunteer, person supported, donor or funder will remove a black leaf and replace it with a green leaf when a standard is fully and completely met – we are hoping to start changing leaves in October! So while the leaves outside will be turning red and orange, inside our accreditation tree will be growing new green leaves.

Please visit often, watch our tree turn green and learn of our new accomplishments as FTP continues its growth to better meet the needs of those we serve.

Click on photo to enlarge.

 

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