Eagle Accreditation Principles
Why should you undertake the challenge of EAGLE Accreditation?
The standards of EAGLE Accreditation were developed by the EAGLE Accreditation Commission, industry consultants, and task forces comprised of members in the field. EAGLE’s primary emphasis is on excellence in Christian ministry, with a focus on how applicant organizations incorporate their Christian mission, religious heritage and values throughout the organization and its daily operations. Other areas of emphasis include focusing on results and outcomes, striving to improve, meeting legal and regulatory requirements, and ensuring privacy, accuracy, accessibility and confidentiality of both client and staff data and information.
While we were created by a Methodist-related organization; historically, ecclesiastically and theologically, Methodists are ecumenical in our approach to faith. John Wesley, our founder, said, “If your heart is as my heart, give me your hand.” By that, he meant that we don’t have to believe alike in order to join together in doing God’s work on earth: We simply need to agree on the basics of love for God and service to humanity. With this in mind, the EAGLE standards were composed around four core values and are NOT prescriptive in how any organization lives out its faith values. Instead, the goal is to build a foundation of quality that leads the organization towards excellence.
With this approach, ten Principles (below) and related Topics were established to promote excellence in Christian health care and human service ministries. The Principles list the major areas of emphasis to which excellent organizations adhere, and Topics ask the “How” questions—how your organization adheres to specified standards of excellence and best practice. Following each set of questions are lists of Expectations. The expectations are hints as to what must be included in the organization’s Self Study, and also a checklist for Peer Reviewers to look for in your answers.
The EAGLE Accreditation Principles
Principle 1: Faith Foundation
The mission/vision/values of an EAGLE-accredited organization reflect the organization’s commitment to its faith foundation and confirm the organization is clearly connected to a Christian denomination or faith community.
Principle 2: Holistic Delivery of Care and Services
An EAGLE-accredited organization has clearly defined the residents/clients it will serve and recognizes, understands, and properly responds to the individual needs of those residents/clients by providing holistic care that addresses their social, emotional, physical, spiritual, intellectual, vocational, and environmental well-being.
Principle 3: Community Engagement
An EAGLE-accredited organization purposefully contributes to the local community, collaborates with other organizations to share its expertise, and partners with others to meet community needs.
Principle 4: Governance and Leadership
The governing body of an EAGLE-accredited organization is a responsible, informed, inclusive, and accountable body whose key roles are policy making and functioning as a fiduciary to protect the interests of the organization and its key stakeholders. It ensures the organization has a strategy for achieving the long-range mission of the organization. It recruits and selects the chief executive officer. It has independence in review and audit functions, as well as a performance evaluation function that monitors the performance of the organization and the chief executive officer.
Principle 5: Performance Measurement
An EAGLE-accredited organization has formal internal processes in place to ensure organizational compliance across all operational practices. It has structured, on-going methods for measuring and improving the quality of its programs, services, and facilities. Information is gathered, reported, and used to inform decision-making throughout the organization.
Principle 6: Workforce
An EAGLE-accredited organization engages, manages, and develops its workforce to ensure all employees are qualified, well-oriented and trained to perform their functions efficiently, effectively, and safely in support of the organization’s mission. Its work environment supports diversity, encourages, and provides opportunities for professional and personal growth, and emphasizes ethical relationships and interactions.
Principle 7: Physical Resource Management
An EAGLE-accredited organization exercises environmentally responsible stewardship over its land, facilities, and equipment and treats applicable governmental health and safety standards as the minimum above and beyond which the organization will operate. The organization proactively plans for its facility needs including preventative maintenance and emergency preparedness.
Principle 8: Finance and Risk Management
An EAGLE-accredited organization assesses both its short-term and long-term financial position and establishes goals to ensure the organization is financially stable. The organization recognizes its ethical and spiritual obligation to exercise responsible stewardship over its assets, liabilities, and risks.
Principle 9: Technology
An EAGLE-accredited organization incorporates the use of technology into its strategic planning process, provides resources to support the technology needs of staff and clients, and recognizes its legal, moral, and spiritual obligation to protect the privacy and confidentiality of information.
Principle 10: Marketing and Fundraising
Through coordinated marketing/communications and fundraising/development programs, an EAGLE-accredited organization builds its stakeholder base and strengthens relationships with its donors. These efforts incorporate the value of supporting a faith-based mission and ensure the consistency of the organization’s brand identity.