What is CARF?
The Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission
CARF is an independent, not-for-profit accrediting body promoting quality, value, and optimal outcomes of services through a consultative accreditation process that centers on enhancing the lives of the persons receiving services. Founded in 1966 as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, the accrediting body is now known as CARF.
CARF establishes customer-focused standards to help providers measure and improve the quality, value, and outcomes of their services. At present, CARF has accredited more than 3,500 organizations in the United States, Canada, and Sweden in the areas of Aging Services, Behavioral Health, Child & Youth Services, Employment and Community Services, and Medical Rehabilitation. CARF develops and maintains practical and relevant standards of quality for such programs.
The standards are developed by the field (which consists of the persons receiving services, rehabilitation professionals, and purchasers of services) and are applied through a peer review process to determine how well an organization is serving its consumers. Every year the standards are reviewed and new ones are developed to keep pace with changing conditions and current consumer needs.
