Dana Point, CA – Ocean Hills Recovery, a drug and alcohol treatment center in Dana Point, California, achieved a perfect score on its recent three-year accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), with no recommendations. The lack of recommendations is unusual, and indicates that the facility has a strong commitment to its clients and exhibits exemplary conformance to the rigorous CARF standards.

To become accredited, an organization typically engages the assistance of a professional consulting firm to assist in the yearlong process prior to accreditation. Ocean Hills Recovery enlisted the assistance of PowderHorn Consulting, and worked with Tom Sefcik, ACSW, MBA, and Dwight Sperry, MA, LPE-1, LPC, both previous CARF specialists.

Ocean Hills Recovery was accredited for four programs for three years, with no recommendations. According to Brian Boon, President of CARF, this achievement only happens to 3% of the 6,800 organizations, and over 50,000 programs that are accredited by CARF.

“You have to read, follow and embrace the CARF Standards Manual," comments Holly Wagner, MA, CATC III, and Program Director for Ocean Hills Recovery. “And, we could not have done it on our own," adds Rachel Ramirez, OH Program Administrator. "PowderHorn Consulting gave us the 'Next Steps' checklist and helped us to fine tune our policies and procedures for our success," she adds.

A strong factor that lead to the remarkable accreditation includes the way in which the accreditation process was initiated, says Ramirez. PowderHorn Consulting conducted a site visit, with a Gap Analysis, in October to go through the standards manual, review policies and procedures, and outline expectations of the organization.

“The best thing PowderHorn did was to inform the owners and leaders about the importance of trust and transparency," says Ramirez. She said that, along with a positive attitude about CARF, and the open sharing of information made it work.

With a three-year accreditation and no recommendations, the Ocean Hills Recovery staff recognized that their success was due to following more than the Standards Manual. Wagner states, “It was the team effort, led by PowderHorn, but independent of CARF, that built the foundation for our success."

With consultants comprising over 150 years of experience, PowderHorn Consulting specializes in CARF accreditation, and offers a wide range of services to health and human organizations in the United States and Canada. Over ten years in business, PowderHorn Consulting has a proven record of accomplishment with a 100% success rate in CARF accreditations. For more information, Tom Sefcik can be reached at 740-272-1935, or at www.PowderHornConsulting.com.

CARF, established in 1966, is an independent, non-profit accreditor of health and human services, including behavioral health, aging services, and child and youth services, among others.

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