FORT LEE, Va. (July 2, 2015) -- The Army Community Service program here was recently recognized with a perfect accreditation score after an early June inspection.
Every ACS undergoes a standardized accreditation evaluation every three years, where a team comes through and inspects each center. In between inspections, the staff at ACS conducted internal assessments to check their progress on meeting the standards, said Stephanie Parker, ACS director.
"Those internal reviews are when a director addresses any deficits or shores up the support to an under-performing program," she said. "We can also call the assessment teams to do site visits -- outside of the tri-annual accreditation -- to make sure our services are in line with what IMCOM and the Department of the Army says we should be doing."
During the previous accreditation assessment, ACS was missing a staff member certification requirement, which prevented the team from earning an accreditation at the site visit.
"It's not a 'gotcha' type of process," said Parker. "They allow you to have a corrective action time, and we were given time to meet the standard.
"This year was significant because we hit the mark on everything -- nothing was left unturned," she continued. "There were no corrective actions that needed to be done. We were right on the spot and that hadn't been achieved in nine years."
Aside from ACS, there are other organizations within Kenner Army Health Clinic -- family advocacy and the Exceptional Family Member Program -- that had a part in the accreditation process. Parker said prior to her arrival on Fort Lee in 2010, the family advocacy medical component at Kenner had difficulty passing its standards, which prevented the full accreditation.
"This year, it was noted we received full accreditation by the inspection team," said Parker. "Every standard was achieved and maxed out."
The ACS here has achieved the best rating so far this year, according to Parker.
"That comes from staff talent and their education," she said. "They also understood their requirements for the process. Even though the requirements were revised in January of this year, the team met all the standards."
Other organizations across the Army are recognizing the talented staff, said Parker. Patricia Harper -- the ACS Family Advocacy Program manager -- has been noted as a subject matter expert for her field and regularly receives communications from other installations regarding the accreditation process. Nancy Burns -- who coordinates the Army Family Action Plan for Fort Lee and conducts Army Family Team Building -- was recognized for how well she handles her program.
"I am ecstatic about the results," said Parker. "I'm just so pleased with the staff because they took the lead in meeting the new and revised standards. It's also a challenging time for ACS because we have a lot of new taskers and initiatives from Army, but they aren't providing resources through manpower and funding.
"For example, we recently lost funding for our relocation assistance program, which provides the lending closet, relocation counseling, and education and tools for relocation," she continued. "But I still have standards. So, IMCOM and the Department of the Army say I have to meet the standards, but 'oh by the way, you don't have any money to meet them.' So we have to figure it out. To have the program inspection and have them recognize how exceptional of a job we did, I am just beside myself. That means my staff and I are taking a huge burden to make sure service members and their families have their needs met."
These changes in funding and losing resources have taken a toll on her staff as well, said Parker.
"I have program managers who are stressed out because they are asked to do extra duties, and they aren't getting compensated," she said. "As a director and supervisor, I look for ways to energize them and give them incentives. I try to reward the individuals who go above and beyond and those efforts pay off."
Parker said she knew before the team even came that her ACS would do great.
"I absolutely knew we were going to do well; it wasn't an option not to do well," she said.
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