Child & Family Center in Santa Clarita recently announced the awarding of its three-year accreditation and The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for Behavioral Health Care Accreditation by demonstrating compliance with its 1,200 performance standards.

The Gold Seal of Approval is a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to providing safe and effective care, treatment and services.

Child & Family Center provides mental health and behavioral therapy, alcohol and drug treatment and domestic violence services for children, adolescents and adults in the Santa Clarita Valley, Antelope Valley and San Fernando Valley.

Child & Family Center underwent a rigorous, announced onsite survey February 25-February 28, 2020. During the review, the Joint Commission expert surveyor evaluated compliance with behavioral health standards related to several areas, including care, treatment and services for mental health, substance use, and domestic violence programs.

Environment of care, infection prevention and control, leadership, and medication management were also assessed.

Onsite observations and client and staff interviews occurred onsite at the Santa Clarita and Palmdale locations.

The Joint Commission has accredited health care facilities for more than 60 years. More than 4,000 general, children’s, long-term acute, psychiatric, rehabilitation and specialty hospitals currently maintain accreditation from The Joint Commission, awarded for a three-year period.

The Joint Commission’s behavioral health care standards are developed in consultation with health care experts and providers, measurement experts and consumers. The standards are informed by scientific literature and expert consensus. They are evidence-based to help organizations measure, assess and improve performance.

“As a private accreditor, The Joint Commission surveys health care organizations to protect the public by identifying deficiencies in care and working with those organizations to correct them as quickly and sustainably as possible,” said Mark Pelletier, RN, MS, chief operating officer, Accreditation and Certification Operations, and chief nursing executive, The Joint Commission.

“We commend Child & Family Center for its continuous quality improvement efforts in patient safety and quality of care,” Pelletier said.

“Joint Commission accreditation provides accepted industry standards and practices to behavioral health organizations like ours for providing safe and reliable care to children, youth and families,” said Joan Aschoff, PsyD, president/chief executive officer.

“Our accreditation journey to become a reliable and quality improvement organization has helped us improve our business operations,” Aschoff said. “In fact, The Joint Commission served as an independent audit of our commitment to continuous quality improvement.”

“Child & Family Center is honored to receive its three-year accreditation from The Joint Commission,” said Cheri Fleming, chair of the Child & Family Center Board of Directors.

“We are so proud of the leadership and team effort. Everyone from across the organization, including the Board, worked together to implement approaches to advance access to high-quality care for people of all ages living in the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys and the greater Los Angeles community,” Fleming said.

View the Child & Family Center Quality Report on The Joint Commission’s Quality Check. The report includes the accreditation decision, a listing of accredited sites and services, special quality awards, level of compliance with the National Patient Safety Goals. Visit https://www.qualitycheck.org/.