Published in Pawtucket Times on April 29, 2002

The smallest state in the union has become a major player in the accreditation movement for senior centers.

This month, Pawtucket’s Leon Mathieu Senior Center celebrated its successful efforts to receive national accreditation bestowed       by the National Institute of Senior Centers (NISC), a unit of the Washington, DC-based National Council on Aging, Inc.  With INSC’s seal of approval, Pawtucket’s only senior center, along with 11 other senior centers in the state, have joined an elite group of 71 centers across the national who have demonstrated excellence, adhered to NISC’s polities and procedures and have met the national aging group’s very high standards.

A strong commitment to become accredited and the dedication of time and resources during the self-assessment process are key for a nonprofit board, a mayor, or town manager to successfully meet the high standards set by NISC’s national accreditation program, says Kathy McNamee, Warwick’s director of senior services.

“Every senior center that has gone through the accreditation process may operate a little differently due to the community they service, but they must bee the boilerplate for NISC’s national standards.

“Not everyone wants to get accredited,” McNamee adds, noting that it is a very individual decision for each community to  make.

After reviewing the NISC manual used for self-assessment, some communities decide that they are just not prepared to go forward,” she says.

“Attempting to balance your workday while taking on a project of this magnitude may really give you second thoughts,” she adds.

Meanwhile, McNamee urges those choosing not to go through the accreditation process to utilize NISC’s self-assessment manual to see how they operate.

“It will make you aware of issues a senior center must conform in  coming years to come,” she says, noting that the process can easily assist directors in identifying the strength and weaknesses of their operation.

McNamee, president of the Rhode Island Senior Center Directors Association, said senior centers pulling in community input may spend up to one year gathering information to answer questions in nine areas of the center’s operations.

When the self-assessment phase is completed, a day-long on-site peer review is performed by a certified trained professional who works closely with an off-site reviewer will either lead to accreditation, provisional, no accreditation.

What are the benefits of meeting NISC’s national accreditation standards?

“Accreditation means that what we are doing here is really cutting-edge,” said Joan Crawley, director of the Leon Mathieu Senior Center.

With 12 senior centers in the Ocean State already accredited by NISC, “Rhode Island is already way ahead of the curve,” she told All About Seniors. “By meeting national standards, we are in a good position to seek grants and funding.

Accreditation creates pride in a senior center, too. Eighty-year old Sarah Gauvin, a retired book-keeper and member of the Pawtucket Senior Citizens Council, loves the idea that the Leon Mathieu Senior Center received state and national recognition by receiving NISC’s accreditation.

“This means that we are first class and it is acknowledging our hard work,” she says.

Director Barbara Rayner, of the state’s Department of Elderly Affairs, is to be commended for their efforts to financially assist the 12 Rhode Island senior centers that are enrolled in NISC’s national accreditation program. However, the state may ultimately be penny-wise but pound-foolish by not assisting every non-accredited senior center in following the footsteps of Pawtucket’s Leon Mathieu Senior Center and the 11 other accredited centers, considering the new federal interest in the outcome measures and quality assurance of providing community-based services.

Over the next several years, the DEA might consider budgeted funds to assist every cash-strapped senior center in paying the accreditation fee if they have a strong commitment and community support to proceed.

Combine this with the sharing of ideas and expertise among Rhode Island’s accredited senior centers and with those senior centers wishing to embark on the road to accreditation, and you just might have the right ingredients to bring senior centers in every community into the accreditation fold.