Group accredits children’s shelter in Fort Smith

FORT SMITH— The Fort Smith Children’s Shelter has been awarded a three-year accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities International.

Jack Moffett, shelter executive director, said it received its accreditation Oct. 16. The commission’s website states the organization is a group of companies including Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities Canada and Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities Europe, and is an independent, nonprofit accreditor of health and human services.

“In essence, they establish a set of standards that range from finance to operations to governance, and they expect you to demonstrate that, through your daily practices, that you conform with those standards,” Moffett said. “Those standards are intended to ensure that the organization operates at a higher level of management, basically.”

Due to a recent federal law called the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018, the Fort Smith shelter will transition from being a short-term emergency shelter to providing long-term care as a Qualified Residential Treatment Program, according to a Monday news release. Under the new model, the shelter will serve youth in foster care between ages 10 and 17 and the maximum length of time a child will live at the shelter will extend from 45 days to 6-12 months.

Moffett said the shelter sought accreditation to pursue the Qualified Residential Treatment Program designation. The designation was a result of the act.

The act changed the money stream for shelters serving children in foster care throughout the country, with accreditation being one requirement to be a Qualified Residential Treatment Program, Moffett said. The Fort Smith shelter was able to function as such a program effective the same day it got the accreditation.

With a longer average length-of-stay, the release states the shelter will provide on-site therapy and “resident-centered” care through a trauma-informed approach. The model of care will allow the shelter to better address the emotional and behavioral disorders the children exhibit due to experiencing neglect and/or abuse. A collaboration with the Western Arkansas Counseling and Guidance Center to provide long-term therapy and counseling will bring behavioral health expertise.

“One of the limitations of our previous shelter model was not being able to provide desperately needed therapy to the kids because they were here for only a short time,” Moffett said in the release. “As a [Qualified Residential Treatment Program,] we will be able to have a much more meaningful impact on the lives of the children we serve.”

Moffett said two other shelters in the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Children and Family Services Area 2 received their accreditation and transitioned to Qualified Residential Treatment Programs this year as well. This includes the Fort Smith Boys Home and the Maggie House in Charleston. Area 2 is comprised of Sebastian, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Scott, and Yell counties, according to the DHS website.

Fort Smith’s shelter has provided a safe home to more than 4,200 foster care children in Arkansas for over 20 years, according to the release.