ALLIANCE OF INFORMATION

AND REFERRAL SYSTEMS

Accreditation Manual

Packet Updated February 2011

Accreditation Criteria March 2011

Standards for Professional Information and Referral, 6.0 Edition, January 2010

ALLIANCE OF INFORMATION

AND REFERRAL SYSTEMS

Accreditation Manual

The Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (AIRS) is a membership organization whose mission is "To provide leadership and support to our membership and affiliates to advance the capacity of a Standards driven Information and Referral industry that brings people and services together.”

For further information about AIRS products and services, contact:

AIRS

11240 Waples Mill Road
Suite 200
Fairfax, Virginia 22030
(703) 218-AIRS (2477)
fax: (703) 359-7562
e-mail:

Accreditation

Manual

Based on AIRS Standards for Professional Information and Referral and Quality Indicators

Version 6.0

Revised January 2009

Copyright 2002, 2007, and 2011 by the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (AIRS). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means or sold without the expressed written permission of AIRS, except where otherwise specified. Whenever a portion or section of this publication is used, full credit and acknowledgement must be provided to AIRS. Producing additional copies of the entire publication is expressly forbidden.

Published by the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems at .

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

AIRS would like to thank members of the AIRS Accreditation Commission, under the leadership of chair Robert McKown, for developing the 2011 Accreditation Manual.

As with previous editions, Georgia Sales of 211 LA County provided primary authorship and edited the many comments and suggestions that were submitted during the revision process.

AIRS Board members, staff and other experts who participated in the in the review and update of this Accreditation Manual include:

--1--

Nathan Cook

Arkansas Lighthouse for the Blind

Little Rock, Arkansas

Lynn Engel

Connect2Help

Indianapolis, Indiana

Pamela Hillier
Community Connection/211 Central East Ontario

Collingwood, Ontario Canada

Charlene Hipes

AIRS

Portland, Oregon

Fred Koss

Indianapolis, Indiana

Robert McKown
Heart of West Michigan United Way

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Donald McPherson
CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions

Indianapolis, Indiana

Sherry Miller

Michigan Associations of United Ways

Lansing, Michigan

Vicki Mize

United Way of Tarrant County/2-1-1 Texas

Arlington, Texas

Georgia Sales

211 LA County

San Gabriel, California

Micki Thompson

2-1-1 Tampa Bay Cares, Inc.

Clearwater, Florida

Debby Thornton

Community Council of Greater Dallas

Dallas, Texas

Bridget Wolf HandsOn Central Ohio, Inc.

Columbus, Ohio

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

AIRS Accreditation Overview Page 8

AIRS Accreditation Process DescriptionPage 10

Accreditation Appeal ProcessPage 14

Certification of Documentation AgreementPage 16

Accreditation Criteria Page 18

Service DeliveryPage 20

Resource Database Page 32

Reports and MeasuresPage 46

Cooperative Relationships Page 54

Disaster Preparedness Page 60

Organizational EffectivenessPage 68

Summary of All Accreditation Documentation Requirements Page 88

SurveysPage 90

Community Organization Page 92

Board/Advisory CommitteePage 98

Administrator/Program Director Page 104

Staff Page 106

Guidelines for Submission of Accreditation MaterialsPage 108

Accreditation Liaison Page 109

Secret Shopper Process/Form Page 110

AIRS ACCREDITATION OVERVIEW

The purpose of the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (AIRS) Accreditation process is to determine the extent to which applicant information and referral (I&R) organizations comply with expected practices within the field as defined by the AIRS Standards for Professional Information and Referral.

Accreditation is a cooperative effort between the I&R agency and AIRS to establish a strong foundation on which the agency can build and grow. An agency considering accreditation should assess where it is in its development, its goals and whether it is ready for accreditation. Agencies must meet minimum requirements outlined in the 2011 Accreditation Criteria to become accredited.

The first step for applicant I&R services is to complete and submit the Application and Consultation Agreement that are included in this packet. Accreditation is a two-phase process: a Consultation Phase during which the I&R service completes and submits required documentation in consultation with a liaison assigned by AIRS; and the On-Site Review during which a review team is able to see the agency in operation and verify that its practices are consistent with the accreditation criteria. Prior to the site visit, the call handling component of the agency’s service is evaluated through a secret shopper process and a remote review of its resource database is conducted to ensure that it meets minimum requirements. At a minimum, the site visit includes:

A tour of the facility

A meeting with the agency’s volunteer leadership

Interviews with key I&R staff

Examination of documents per AIRS request

Debriefing with the agency’s administrative staff

All transactions between AIRS (including members of the review team) and the applicant agency, and all materials submitted by the agency, are confidential. The only information that will be shared with other organizations and government agencies making an inquiry is information for which the applicant agency has provided written authorization for AIRS to share.

Accreditation awards are made for a period of five years. Following accreditation, you are required to respond to an annual questionnaire reporting on the status of your organization and its activities. You are also required to notify AIRS of any changes that negatively affect your compliance with the Accreditation Criteria.

Approximately one year prior to the expiration of your accreditation award, AIRS will notify you of the need for another review. The process for renewal of accreditation is the same as outlined above.

For more information about the accreditation process, refer to the Accreditation page on the AIRS website at , contact Charlene Hipes at or call: (503) 257-3537. Available on the AIRS website are:

“What is AIRS Accreditation?” document

List of accredited agencies

Accreditation application form and packet

Link to the AIRS I&R Toolkit

Contact information for Accreditation Peer Mentors

Link to the AIRS Standards

AIRS ACCREDITATION PROCESS DESCRIPTION

PHASE ONE: CONSULTATION

  1. You will receive an accreditation packet that includes the following:
  1. Board of Directors/Advisory Committee questionnaire packet with:
  • A sample cover letter to be printed on your stationery and included with the questionnaire. (Please feel free to personalize the letter.)
  • The Board/Advisory Committee questionnaire, which should be copied and distributed to all members of your Board of Directors/Advisory Committee. To satisfactorily complete this process, fifty percent of your Board/Advisory Committee members must return their questionnaires.
  • Mailing labels for return of the questionnaire to AIRS. You are responsible for providing the envelopes and postage.
  • An information form you need to complete listing the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the persons/organizations to whom the questionnaire was distributed. It is critical that this be returned so that the return percentage can be calculated.
  1. Community organization questionnaire packet with:
  • A sample cover letter to be printed on your agency’s stationery and included with the questionnaire. (Please feel free to personalize the letter.)
  • The community organization questionnaire that should be copied and distributed to a minimum of two-percent of the community organizations listed in your database. Include agencies that refer inquirers to your programs as well as those that receive referrals from you, funding organizations and organizations with which you have a service agreement or contract. To satisfactorily complete this process, fifty percent of the community organizations on your distribution list must return their questionnaires. The total number returned should not be fewer than 25.
  • Mailing labels for return of the questionnaire to AIRS. You are responsible for providing the envelopes and postage.
  • An information form you need to complete listing the names and addresses of the persons/organizations to whom the questionnaire was distributed. It is critical that this be returned so that the return percentage can be calculated.
  1. A questionnaire packet for your own staff with:
  • The staff questionnaire, which should be copied and distributed to all line staff (e.g., I&R specialists, resource specialists), supervisors and other staff with a role in service delivery.
  • The administrative questionnaire, which should be copied and distributed to the person responsible for overall program design and program policies.
  • Mailing labels for return of the staff and administrative questionnaires to AIRS. You are responsible for providing envelopes and postage.
  1. AIRS Accreditation Criteria and list of required documentation.
  1. The name, address and telephone number of the AIRS liaison responsible for answering questions regarding the accreditation process, accreditation criteria and required documentation.
  1. A description of the accreditation appeals process.
  1. Guidelines for submission of accreditation material.
  1. Within 10 months of receiving the Accreditation Packet, you must:
  1. Distribute questionnaires and confidential envelopes to your Board of Directors/Advisory Committee members, selected community organizations and staff.
  2. Fill out information forms and return them to AIRS.
  3. Review the Accreditation Criteria and contact the liaison with questions as needed.
  4. Compile and label documentation for Accreditation Criteria.
  5. Complete and have the Board President or other Chief Volunteer Officer and the executive director/I&R program manager sign the “Certification of Accreditation Documentation” form and submit it with your documentation.
  6. Please submit two copies of the materials, one a paper copy in a three-ring binder and the second an electronic copy in writable Adobe PDF format or MS Word. (Consecutively number all pages in the notebook(s) from the beginning to the end of the notebook. Inserted pages can carry the number of the preceding page with an a, b or c, etc. E.g., 12a, 12b, 12c. Do NOT paginate by section.) Please coordinate with your liaison if you wish to submit the packet in another electronic format or prefer to submit two paper copies in binders.
  7. Send the binder(s)/electronic copy, the Certification of Documentation Agreement form and a copy of the Agency/Liaison Contact and Response formto AIRS at the following address:

AIRS-Portland

P.O. Box 33095

Portland, OR 97292

OR

AIRS Portland

15590 SE Millmain

Portland, OR 97233

  1. All materials must be current at the time of submission.
  1. Within six months of receipt of submitted documentation, AIRS will do the following:
  1. Compile a summary of the responses to the confidential questionnaires for inclusion in the Consultation Report provided to the agency.
  1. Analyze the submitted materials and write a consultation assessment report identifying agency or program strengths, changes necessary to continue the accreditation process, and suggestions for improvement. AIRS will make every effort to respond as quickly as possible.
  1. Send a copy of the consultation assessment report to the applying agency.
NOTE: Most agencies will need to submit additional documentation during the Consultation Phase. Please allow for this contingency in your plans. If additional documentation is requested, please submit two copies.
  1. Please review the consultation assessment report and contact your AIRS liaison with any questions. The liaison is available to discuss any additional documentation that may be needed and to assist you in making the changes stipulated in the report. You need to respond to the consultation report and provide supporting documentation and evidence of implementation within six months.

To achieve AIRS accreditation, you must complete Phase Two of the process: the On-Site Review. You may choose to stop the accreditation process after the consultation phase, but if you do so, you will not be considered accredited. If you decided to reinitiate the accreditation process after stopping, you must file another application, pay another fee and submit updated documentation.

PHASE TWO: ON-SITE REVIEW

  1. Upon receipt of the final Consultation report, contact AIRS to schedule an on-site review. The review must take place within three months of the date the final consultation assessment report was completed.
  1. All expenses related to travel (air fare, hotel, food, incidentals) by the review team are included in the application fee.
  1. AIRS staff will schedule an on-site review and identify volunteers for the review team.
  1. The review team will conduct the on-site review. If there were any outstanding documentation issues, you need to assemble updated materials for the team to review.
  1. At the end of the visit, the review team will debrief your administrative team including the executive director, senior staff and board members in attendance.
  1. The review team will complete the on-site assessment report with recommendations and send it to AIRS.
  1. AIRS will send a copy of the on-site assessment report to the Accreditation Commission chair, who will review the report and finalize the accreditation decision.
  1. AIRS will send you a letter:
  1. Granting of full accreditation for five years;
  2. Granting accreditation with recommendations e.g., when an organization is in substantial compliance, but needs to take further action to comply with some criteria;
  3. Deferring accreditation pending the receipt of additional information; or
  4. Denying accreditation.

ALLIANCE OF INFORMATION
AND REFERRAL SYSTEMS

Accreditation CriteriaMarch 2011

REPORTS AND MEASURES STANDARDS

The delivery of I&R services generates valuable information about the problems/needs of a community and the availability of resources to meet those needs. The Reports and Measures standards describe requirements for the collection of inquirer data, the analysis of that data and its dissemination within the community as well as the collection and utilization of information that can be used to manage and continuously improve the service delivery process[1].

STANDARD 13 Inquirer Data Collection: The I&R service shall establish and use a secure, computerized system for collecting and organizing inquirer data and related management information that facilitate appropriate referrals and provide a basis for describing requests for service and unmet needs, identifying service gaps and overlaps, assisting with needs assessments, supporting the development of products, identifying issues for staff training and facilitating the expansion of the resource database. Inquirer data includes information gathered during follow-up and customer satisfaction/quality assurancecalls as well as that acquired during the original contact. The primary goal of data collection is to garner enough information about inquirers to help them address and/or resolve their problems. Inquirer data must always be made available in aggregated form to protect the confidentiality of individual inquirers.

STANDARD 14 Data Analysis and Reporting: The I&R service shall utilize inquirer data and/or data from the resource database to support community planning activities (or planning at other levels), internal analysis for management purposes and system advocacy.

ACCREDITATION REQUIREMENTS

Reports and Measures: Use the checklist below to identify your computerized inquirer data collection, analysis and reporting capabilities, the types of reports you generate and your report distribution practices. Check all that apply.

XWe use an inquirer data collection form that has a standardized set of inquirer data elements that are used for reporting purposes. Minimum expectation: Required.

XThe data that we use for reports of our I&R contacts/inquiries comes from the following contact sources, all of which involve an exchange of information between the inquirer and the I&R specialist that provides an opportunity for an assessment. Check all that apply. Minimum expectation: as noted below.

XI&R inquiries via our phone service. Required

Face-to-face contacts (walk-ins, I&R interactions in other settings).

Voicemail contacts.

XE-mail contacts.

Instant messaging (IM) contacts.

Online chat contacts.

Text messaging contacts.

XRegular mail contacts.

Other. Please specify:

We also collect information about the following other types of I&R activities, in addition to I&R inquiries, but do not include those figures in our contact/inquiry total without clearly explaining the different elements that comprise the total. Minimum expectation: None of the listed options are required. Included are:

XWebsite visitor activity.

People accessing recorded information.

XOutreach presentations.

XBrochures and/or other publications distributed.

XOutgoing advocacy calls.

XOutgoing customer satisfaction/quality assurance calls.

XOutgoing follow-up calls.

XOutgoing calls to verify resource information.

XCommunity problems/needs reporting.

Other. Please specify:

The data collection form allows us to distinguish and record the following types of required activities. Use the checklist below to verify that you meet this requirement. Minimum expectation: All are required.

XAssessment and referral.

XInformation.

XCrisis intervention.

XAdvocacy.

XThe data collection form allows us to record the disposition of inquiries. Minimum expectation: Met and unmet needs can be recorded for assessment and referral inquiries.

Assessment and Referral Inquiries

XMet needs, i.e., services are available and referrals are provided or assistance without referrals is made available.

XUnmet needs, i.e., no services are available.

Information Inquiries

XMet needs, i.e., information is available.

XUnmet needs, i.e., information cannot be located and provided.

XThe data collection form allows us to record follow-ups completed and follow-up results (whether service was received or whether there was an unmet need). Minimum expectation: Required.

XWe produce reports that include the following. Minimum expectation: All are required except the two marked as “optional”.

XTotal number of inquiries.

XTotal number and types of problems/needs presented by inquirers.

XThe number and/or percentage of inquiries involving:

XAssessment and referral.

XInformation.

XCrisis intervention.

XAdvocacy.

XMet and unmet needs.