Spagnola commends the outstanding score of 98.4% received by BCC. 

The end of the traditional holiday season bridging Thanksgiving and Christmas also marked the end of a yearlong project for BCC – completion of an in-person Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitative Facilities (CARF) audit.

The singular reward for the efforts of many came Feb. 17, when the formal CARF certificate arrived in the mail.

Dec. 14 through 16 of 2015, reviewers from CARF put BCC facilities and staff through inspection and audit of campuses, off-site homes and outpatient programs. The audit visit was the culmination of just over a year of planning, work and review from every BCC department and team in every facility and location.

President & CEO, Laurie Anne Spagnola, addressed the Baltimore campus directly on Dec. 16 while other BCC off-site staff joined in via a conference call.  Spagnola said of 1,838 standards the review team from CARF examined, Board of Child Care was recommended to improve on just 30 – a 98.4 percent success mark – something Spagnola described as “stupendous” given this was BCC’s first time being accredited by CARF.

She also lauded the Quality Improvement team, which comprises Vice President of Administration, Cindy Brink, Quality Improvement Coordinator, Kristine Goolsby, and Quality Improvement Assistant, Teresa Ward for shepherding the entire process.

Finally, Spagnola shared some positive takeaways from the exit interview in the form of some notable stories from reviewers, who shared a parent’s comment about sending her son to the Board of Child Care was, “One of the best decisions I’ve ever made.” Another CARF reviewer recounted a program participant saying, “This is the first place I’ve gone to that’s made a difference in my life.”