The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services has become one of only seven state-administered agencies to be accredited by the nonprofit Council for Accreditation, an international child and family service and behavioral health care accrediting organization.
Today, department Commissioner Viola Miller is in Chattanooga to present local department staff with a plaque recognizing the accomplishment, said Sandra Holder, regional administrator for the department in the Tennessee Valley region.
This year was the first year that the department applied for accreditation, which requires that all of the state’s 13 regional offices meet certain social work standards, she said.
The accreditation was based on peer-review assessments in all regional offices, which were graded on almost 770 standards including administration and management, ethical practice, financial management, client rights and adoption services.