Six CHS staff members attended the SPARK 2023 Conference from October 15-18. COO Deanna Larson, Sioux Falls Residential Program Director Lisa Johnson, Director of Schools Mike Groher, Grant Specialist Angie Smith, Compliance Director Jody Carpenter and Community Based Services Assistant Program Director Nichole Knepp represented CHS at the conference in Bethesda, MD.

The conference included sessions on five different tracks:

• Brain Science
• COA Accreditation
• EDI, Belonging and Justice
• Innovative Programs and Practices
• Workforce Resilience and Leadership

The conference was held by Social Current, which is a new organization created when the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities and the Council on Accreditation joined forces.

Several participants from CHS were focused primarily on the COA Accreditation track. CHS is currently evaluating achieving COA accreditation, instead of or in addition to our Joint Commission accreditation. Pursuing this designation is a yearlong process.

Becoming COA accredited offers human service organizations professional recognition for meeting the highest standards in quality service delivery while providing clients with an appropriate tool for effectively evaluating service providers. Organizations that achieve accreditation have reached beyond the minimum licensing standards and made a long-term commitment to strong management, program consistency, outcome measurements, and continuous improvement throughout.

According to Angie, COA Accreditation could also make CHS eligible for additional fundraising and grant opportunities, as well as driving revenue and reducing costs.

A National Gathering

Measured against other human services organizations nationwide, Angie believes CHS stacks up well. “When you hear about the challenges other organizations face, CHS is doing great work,” she said. “It was very uplifting.” Staffing and workplace retention are major concerns for all organizations, but Angie felt CHS is competitive or better in that regard.

Another one of Angie’s takeaways was the message delivered by the conference’s keynote speaker. George M. Johnson is a Black non-binary writer and activist and the author of All Boys Aren’t Blue. In his speech, George shared the challenges of growing up as a Black Queer boy in New Jersey.

“The social worker in me found the speaker very compelling,” Angie said. “He faced many challenges, but he had people in his life as a child and youth to support him and help him succeed. That is often what our children and families need, too.”

“Our work still comes back to embracing the person in front of you, whatever they bring,” she said. “If there is a person in need of care, we, as social workers, therapists and advocates, must strive to have an ‘unconditional positive regard.’”

Angie’s impressions dovetail with Social Current’s mission, which is “to advocate for and implement equitable solutions to society’s toughest challenges through collaboration, innovation, policy and practice excellence.”