October 3, 2024

Further to our update last week, FOCUS accreditation has now opened up online surveys for different people that are connected to the work of Karis Disability Services, including people using services, family members, employees, volunteers, funders, community partners, host families, and board members.  Some of these people will be receiving invitations to take part in a survey about Karis, and how we meet FOCUS standards. 

These surveys will be sent from our Quality Assurance (quality@karis.org) email address, but will be sent directly to FOCUS.

If you receive a survey invitation, you are invited to participate in our FOCUS review.

For people using services and family members, if an invitation was not received by email, access to the surveys is still available, and can be shared by the direct support team.  An email was distributed earlier this week to program email addresses that included information, links, and QR codes to help people access these surveys. 

We invite direct support teams to invite and support people using services and family members to participate in these surveys as they choose.

Stay tuned over the next several weeks as we will continue to share more about our FOCUS review.

FOCUS Accreditation Timelines:

September 30th – October 18th – Online FOCUS Surveys

November 4th – November 22nd – Virtual Review FOCUS will conduct interviews with key leaders about specific standards, review some records and information online (available through our databases), and may meet with others (e.g., Our Voices Matter).

(tentatively) April 7th – April 25th – Onsite Review FOCUS will visit a small number of service locations in Ontario and Saskatchewan to talk to people using services and employees, to tour locations, and make observations and review any additional documentation onsite.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to learn more, please contact a member of the FOCUS Champions team or Justin Radstake, Manager of Quality Assurance or Peter Wyngaarden, Director of Quality, Research and Practice Initiatives (QRPI). 

You can also find out more about FOCUS and Accreditation on CH Connect under About Us/Accreditation (VPN required).