The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), also known as the Joint Commission, is one of the highest-ranking and well-known organizations for quality assurance of healthcare centers. They measure everything from nursing homes to hospitals to rehab centers, and their seal carries a great deal of weight and distinction. If you or someone you care about is entering rehab, ask the admissions representative you speak to if the facility is accredited by the Joint Commission to ensure you’re getting help from a quality and reputable treatment center. JCAHO Accreditation means the facility has been stringently assessed to determine excellence.
What Does JCAHO Measure?
Joint Commission accreditation entails a multi-visit assessment to measure several key pillars of performance and efficacy, including:
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Quality and Safety
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Patient Experience
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Staff Performance
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Regulatory Compliance
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Patient Outcomes
If the facility you’re considering is accredited by the Joint Commission, it means they’ve gone through an extensive battery of assessments to ensure they’re treating their patients with the utmost respect, care, and safety. These are elements that help when you’re going to rehab and unsure of what the experience is going to be like. The Joint Commission has been around for 50 years and requires ongoing monitoring, compliance, and transparency to sustain accreditation.
Medi-Cal Behavioral Health Division (MCBHD) administers, oversees, and monitors the Medi-Cal Specialty Mental Health Services (SMHS) and Drug Medi-Cal programs. The SMHS program provides medically necessary services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. The Drug Medi-Cal (DMC) program provides medically necessary substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. The programs are operated at the local level through contracts between DHCS and counties. MCBHD implements program changes related to behavioral health services required by state and federal laws and regulations. DHCS is California’s single state Medicaid agency, and MCBHD is the liaison with CMS for behavioral health services in California. Additionally, MCBHD provides subject matter expertise and technical assistance to other state departments and agencies, as well as to MH MCPs, SUD MCPs, SUD FFS counties, and Medi-Cal MCPs. MCBHD is also responsible for state oversight of mental health managed care plans (MH MCPs), SUD MCPs, and SUD fee-for-service (FFS) counties to ensure compliance with state and federal requirements.
MCBHD consists of three (3) branches:
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Program Policy, Legislation, and Regulations Branch
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County/Provider Operations and Monitoring Branch
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Quality and Network Adequacy Oversight Branch
Licensing and Certification Division
The DHCS Licensing and Certification Division (LCD) focuses on compliance with State and Federal statute, regulations, and other governing requirements. LCD oversees licensing and certification functions, monitoring, and complaints for Driving-Under-the-Influence Programs, Narcotic Treatment Programs, and outpatient and residential providers. LCD also oversees conducts complaint investigations on certified Alcohol and Other Drug counselors and counselor certification. LCD is also responsible for the licensing, monitoring, unusual occurrence reviews, and complaints for Mental Health Rehabilitation Centers and Psychiatric Health Facilities, as well as the, approvals of 5150 facilities designated by the counties for the purpose of 72-hour treatment and evaluation under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act and the Children’s Civil Commitment and Mental Health Treatment Act.
Community Services Division
The Community Services Division (CSD) is responsible for various behavioral health programs and services for adults, youth, and children. The CSD is charged with policy development, oversight, compliance, and monitoring of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Programs (STRTP), and Children’s Therapeutic Care Programs. Additionally, CSD administers the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program. CSD also administers several grants from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) including the State Opioid Response, Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SABG), Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG), and Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH). Other programs CSD oversees include behavioral health prevention and family services, as well as Proposition 64 youth SUD prevention funding.
Department of Mental Health
Crisis Residential Treatment Programs (CRTPs) are designed to serve individuals who are experiencing an acute psychiatric impairment and whose adaptive functioning is moderately impaired. CRTPs provide short term, intensive and supportive services in a home-like environment through an active social rehabilitation program designed to improve the lives and adaptive functioning of those it serves. Individuals can expect to receive the following services:
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Self-help skills and peer support
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Individual and group interventions
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Social skills
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Medication support
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Co-occurring disorder services
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Pre-vocational/educational support
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Discharge planning
Crisis Residential Treatment services are centrally accessed through the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (DMH), Countywide Resource Management (CRM) unit and can be referred from a variety of treatment settings.
Referrals are triaged and reviewed for clinical appropriateness and authorized for services by CRM. The average length of stay in a CRTP is 10-14 days, with a maximum stay not to exceed 30 days, without prior approval.
The Teen Project:
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Freehab Residential Treatment Licensed by the State Department of Health Care Services 190811AN (74 beds) expires 7/31/2024
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Freehab Crisis Residential Licensed by the State Department of Mental Health MHBS200394 (16 beds) Expires 1/22/2023
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Vera’s Sanctuary for Women Licensed by the State Department of Health Care Services 300225BN (24 beds) Expires 5/31/2023
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Sanctuary Recovery for Teens Licensed by the State Department of Health Care Services 300431AN (6 beds) Expires 1/31/2024
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The Teen Project Recovery Resident Pending (6 beds)
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The Teen Project Outpatient RSM Licensed by the State Department of Health Care Services 300225EN (non-res) Expires 3/31/2023
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Carol McMillen Sanctuary Pending (24 beds)