Managing the Accreditation Process in School Age Programs

The rapid growth of School Age Care (SAC) programs has presented a need to define and evaluate quality in school age child care programs. Standards of quality have been identified and incorporated into an accreditation process developed by National School Age Care Alliance (NSACA). SAC programs striving to achieve accreditation will encounter both positive and negative experiences during the accreditation process. This paper will identify and discuss the issues encountered by programs as they move toward and through the accreditation process. The methods used to gather information are personal observations, literature and hands on experience. This paper looks closely at two centers that have gone through the accreditation process. One center has received accreditation status and one center received deferral status. Finally, this paper discusses accreditation from the management standpoint. Information presented will be helpful to the SAC profession because it can be used to evaluate the accreditation process and determine the impact accreditation can have on developing and maintaining quality SAC programs