3. Membership and Accreditation

This section has information on the following subjects. Click on the heading to jump to that subject. Don’t forget to use the navigation arrows to go backwards and forwards in the document. Additions or significant alterations have been highlighted in yellow.

3.1. Membership

3.2. Accreditation

3.3. Re-accreditation process

3.1. Membership

Membership of the National Association of Child Contact Centres is based upon the NACCC National Standards for Child Contact Centres, originally agreed by the Membership and updated by NACCC in line with legislation and good practice. The NACCC National Standards are the lynchpin upon which NACCC’s Full Membership sits.

NACCC has produced a Guidance Manual that gives Child Contact Centres clear guidelines on all issues that may occur in Centres. The manual underpins the NACCC National Standards and is available free of charge to Associate and Full Members.

For information about any category of membership, please contact the NACCC office.

3.2. Accreditation

NACCC Accreditation demonstrates that the Centre is working to the NACCC National Standards for Child Contact Centres and has successfully completed a portfolio of evidence, which has been assessed as proof they have achieved these Standards. All Centres are expected to achieve Accreditation. They must also subsequently maintain these standards. Accreditation will give referrers assurance that NACCC Child Contact Centres are run properly.

Accreditation recognises the work that NACCC Child Contact Centres do and the high level of service that they offer. It currently applies to both supported and supervised Centres but it is intended that supervised Centres will have a separate set of National Standards.

Accreditation covers the following areas:

  • Centre management.
  • Centre staffing.
  • New Centre and/or new workers.
  • Operating procedures.
  • Policies.
  • Child protection.
  • Confidentiality.
  • Complaints and compliments.
  • Health and safety issues.
  • Equal opportunities and diversity.
  • Domestic violence.
  • Staff training and support

3.3. Re-accreditation process

Re-accreditation has to be undertaken by Child Contact Centres that have been accredited for three years. The re-accreditation process will be as follows:

  1. Child Contact Centres will receive a letter six months in advance of the date that their re-accreditation is due. This will include the following:
  • A self-assessment checklist.
  • A list of specific policies and documentation relating to the management and running of the Child Contact Centre to be submitted to NACCC.
  • The opportunity to attend a training course for Child Contact Centre Co-ordinators.
  1. Following receipt of the completed documentation, one of NACCC’s Regional Support Managers will telephone the Centre.
  2. A representative from NACCC will also be visiting a small number of Child Contact Centres as part of the overall process. These centres will be notified in advance of such a visit.
  3. On completion of the above, the re-accreditation recommendation will be submitted to the NACCC Board of Trustees.

NACCC Guidance Manual, November 2007 / Section 3 / Page 1