Community Sexual Assault Programs (CSAPs) in Washington State receive their funding through the Office of Crime Victims Advocacy (OCVA). Every four years, each CSAP undergoes a rigorous accreditation process, whereby they are audited by an outside agency to ensure that sexual assault survivors have access to quality services across the state.
OCVA is responsible for the accreditation process broadly, including the determination of accreditation standards and the enforcement of the accreditation process. An OCVA external contractor conducts the accreditation review and delivers each program's score to OCVA.
WCSAP staff provides technical assistance to CSAPs as they prepare for accreditation. This technical assistance varies widely in scope and is developed in response to each program's individual needs. For some programs, this means that WCSAP staff provides assistance and guidance over the telephone. For others, WCSAP staff travels to the CSAP to provide intensive on-site assistance.
There are two different types of standards that you will want to familiarize yourself with as the director of an accredited Community Sexual Assault Program:
- Core Service Standards for Community Sexual Assault Programs
- are the standards that apply to all Community Sexual Assault Programs receiving funding from OCVA.
- Specialized Services Standards
- are the standards that are specific to programs receiving funding for therapy, support groups, or medical social work from OCVA.
- Service Standards
- are the detailed explanations of what service providers are paid to do.
- Accreditation Standards
- apply to the providers of core sexual assault services and outline the benchmarks that each program is expected to achieve and maintain.
Accreditation Standards intersect with the Service Standards, but they do not replace them.
CSAPs should use
- the Service Standards to guide their service development and implementation and
- the Accreditation Standards to collect and prepare material for the accreditation review.