Catholic Charities Providing help. Creating hope.

Catholic Charities receives good reviews
from national organization

By Judy Bokorney
Web Site Editor

Catholic Charities, Diocese of Venice, Inc. received reaccreditation by the Council on Accreditation in January 2007. This achievement signifies that Catholic Charities meets or exceeds high quality standards and services comparable to any other social service agency in the nation. The organization originally was awarded national accreditation in 2002.

“Council On Accreditation’s (COA) program of quality improvement is designed to identify providers that have set high performance standards for themselves and have made a commitment to their constituents to deliver the very best quality services,” said Brenda Williams-Gray, director of Accreditation Commissions for COA. “We are proud to recognize Catholic Charities, Diocese of Venice as one of these outstanding providers.”

According to Peter Routsis-Arroyo, president and CEO of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Venice, Inc. the reaccreditation process was an intensive review of programs and services. “Catholic Charities is one of the few agencies that is meeting the best-practice standards across the board,” Routsis-Arroyo said. “It was clear to the reviewers that we are a well-run agency and there is no corrective action plan required,” he said.

COA accreditation is a process of evaluating an organization against best-practice standards. COA develops the standards by using a consensus model with input from service providers, funders, policymakers and consumers across the U.S. and Canada. The standards also represent current research and regulations and are comprised of both organizational standards and service standards.

After a full year of preparation by Catholic Charities staff, a team of COA reviewers visited the organization. They reviewed client, staff and volunteer records; traveled the large geographical area of the Diocese of Venice and visited 18 Catholic Charities program sites; interviewed 40 individuals, 19 clients, 11 volunteers, 14 separate boards, and three individuals from other community based organizations. The reviewers revealed there were over 190 surveys returned to them with overwhelmingly positive comments about Catholic Charities.

Catholic Charities, Diocese of Venice, Inc. served over 40,000 people in 2006 through 31 program sites in ten counties in Southwest Florida. The organization serves all regardless of race, nationality or creed.

“This reaccreditation is a tribute to the dedicated mission-driven staff, board and volunteers of Catholic Charities,” said Routsis-Arroyo.

To learn more about the Council on Accreditation visit www.coanet.org.