CQL Visit Focuses on Person-Centered Services

Search hosted its mid-point accreditation visit with the Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL) in July. The visit included a focused review of activities in the areas of rights, respect and health.

Progress in these areas has included the addition of an annual "Rights Assessment" for every individual served. This assessment evaluates which rights are most important to people (including the ability manage money, send and receive email, vote, visit and be visited, among other areas), and how much support is required to exercise those rights. We, as an agency, then take a look at the intersection between rights that are important to people that also require a high level of support to exercise them, and ensure that we are focused on these areas.

Other areas of note include the addition of new curriculum on housing ("Know Your Housing and Support Options") and employment. Progress was also made on engaging individuals in the management of their own healthcare, including presentations on how services are funded ("Medicare/Medicaid/Mediwhat?"), staff training on medication administration using the "least restrictive methods", and involving individuals in scheduling and tracking their medical appointments.

The visit included site visits, focus groups with both individuals served and staff, the observation of a Personal Outcome Measure (POM) interview and a review of aggregate data on POMs. It was an extremely positive visit overall, and CQL concluded that Search's progress was "robust."

We look forward to CQL's return in the fall of 2019!