ACC Receives Prestigious Accreditation

The entrance to the Anne Carlsen Center Campus is graced by a bronze statue of a young child and the Center’s namesake, Dr. Anne Carlsen. The ACC was recently honored with a four-year CQL accreditation from the Council on Quality and Leadership.

Dan Howell, Anne Carlsen Center CEO, today announced that the Center has been awarded the four year CQL Accreditation from The Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL). The announcement completes a ten-month process for the Anne Carlsen Center (ACC) and confirms that the organization shares CQL’s vision for person-directed solutions to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities and people with cognitive impairments.

“The Anne Carlsen Center is honored to receive the highest award from CQL,” says CEO Dan Howell. “It is affirming to us that our continued mission of improving the quality of life for individuals with disabilities is recognized by independent reviewers. The ACC is committed to continuing to create the most inclusive setting possible for persons with specialized needs.’’

James F. Gardner, Ph.D., President and CEO of CQL, stated, “CQL commends the Anne Carlsen Center for its success in increasing the quality of life for the people it supports. CQL Accreditation signifies organizational excellence in promoting a common vision of community participation and quality of life for all people.”

The accreditation received by the Anne Carlsen Center meets the new standards announced by CQL in May, 2005 as part of its “Quality Measures 2005®”initiative. The new measures support strategies that enable service providers to develop a fully integrated quality management system. The Quality Measures 2005® represent a major break-through in how organizations can evaluate their own effectiveness at providing quality supports for people with disabilities and people with cognitive impairments.

The Quality Measures 2005® combine many of CQL’s existing innovative quality management practices into one core document that provides a blueprint for moving an organization forward. They call for service providers to integrate the assets of the social environment where they are based…an approach CQL has called Community Life®.

The Anne Carlsen Center offers a rich tradition of empowering individuals with disabilities and their families. Its experienced staff provides compassion, training, services, and supports in homes and communities across North Dakota. The educational, residential and therapeutic needs of children and young adults with autism, behavior disorders, medical fragility and other developmental disabilities are met on the Jamestown campus.

Headquartered in Towson, Maryland, CQL is an international not-for-profit organization dedicated to the definition, measurement, and improvement of personal and community quality of life for people with disabilities and people with cognitive impairments.

Known as the innovators in the human services field, CQL has for almost 40 years challenged “conventional wisdom” while pioneering the concept of “person-directed solutions” for service and support organizations, state and national government agencies, regional systems and networks, and professionals and self-advocates