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Common Administrative
Assessment Tool (CAAT) Initiative
In
2001, the Alliance for Human Services (Alliance4HS) began
facilitating the development of an administrative review
tool – the Common Administrative Assessment Tool
or CAAT – for use by its funding partners, both public
and private, and the agencies they fund. State regulations,
county ordinances, and private funders’ policies
all require service provider agencies to be in compliance
with certain standards, and often also require on-site
visits to ensure compliance. So, why not standardize
the reporting tool and coordinate the on-site reviews of
administrative and fiscal operations of these agencies,
and then share the results with the agencies’ other
funders?
Background…
The original CAAT tool was distributed in 2003 and to date has been used primarily
as a self-assessment tool by some agencies and for on-site reviews by a couple
of funders.In late 2005
the CAAT tool was revamped and brought up-to-date with new federal regulations
related to HIPAA requirements and federal Sarbanes-Oxley legislation. In
mid 2006, version 1.0 of the CAAT tool and CAAT
manual were completed and made
available for download and use. |
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Benefits…
Implementing the CAAT tool throughout Miami-Dade County appeals to both funders
and community-based organizations as it can reduce the number of on-site,
administrative review visits for organizations with multiple funders. The
tool offers funders the opportunity to work together as they share resources
and information, and it offers organizations an enhanced ability to attract
new funding sources and expand services as they strengthen their organizational
capacity. (Note that the CAAT tool is only for administrative
reviews and would not replace programmatic reviews by funders.)
Beta
Testing…
The Alliance4HS organized a beta test
of the CAAT process in August and September of 2006 to determine
if the community’s
vision of coordinated on-site visits and sharing of information
for administrative reviews of service providers could be
implemented successfully.
Seven service provider agencies of varying
size and organizational capacity,
and 19 reviewers representing12 different funders, both public
and private, participated in the testing.
In brief, the testing included the following steps:
(1) representatives of service provider agencies and funders
attended a one-day training on the CAAT tool and
on-site visit process, using version 1.0 of the CAAT manual;
(2) agencies completed the CAAT tool as a self-assessment;
(3) a 4-6 member inter-agency Review Team consisting of
both public and private funders conducted a one-day, on-site
visit to the agency to review and verify the self-reported
information; and,
(4) at the conclusion of the on-site visit, the Review
Team provided a preliminary oral report that will be followed
up with a written report to the agency highlighting its
strengths and areas in need of attention.
Rokicki and Associates, the technical consultants for
the beta testing, completed a Final
Report of the Preliminary
Common Administrative Assessment Tool Evaluation and Training
Project in October 2006. This report identifies decisions
required of the Alliance4HS Board of Directors to move
the CAAT initiative to its next phase. These decisions,
fully discussed in the Final Report, fall into three categories: operational,
sustainability, and training and capacity building.
Next Steps…
The testing was largely successful with the CAAT tool and
inter-agency administrative review process performing
as expected, including revealing modifications required
to be made of the CAAT tool and manual. Revisions
are currently being made and versions 2.0 of both these
documents are forthcoming.
During the spring of 2007, a Task Force
comprised of a cross-section of stakeholders will be convened
to make recommendations to the Alliance4HS Board of Directors
on how best to proceed with full implementation. As
currently proposed, the CAAT tool would be the foundation
for a nonprofit certification process for Miami-Dade County
CBOs. This would retain the CAAT project’s
original purpose of streamlining funders’ administrative
review of agencies while taking the project to the next
level in line with regional and national trends.
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THANK YOU!
to the SERVICE PROVIDERS that participated
in the CAAT tool beta testing: |
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THANK YOU!
to the FUNDERS that participated in the
CAAT tool beta testing: |
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What Others Are
Doing…
Miami-Dade County’s efforts with the CAAT reflect broader
regional and national interest and activity from both private
and public funders and donors to both hold nonprofits more accountable
in handling their funds and providing client services, and to
address agencies’ organizational development needs.
Local
and national certification programs seek to address these issues
formally. Regionally, the Center
for Nonprofit Excellence in Palm Beach County and Broward
County Human Services Department have
established nonprofit certification programs – providing examples of a voluntary
program and a mandatory program, respectively.
The Standards for Excellence Institute was established
to promote the highest standards of ethics and accountability
in nonprofit governance, management, and operations. Its Standards
for Excellence Certification Program provides a
national model for how the most well managed and responsibly
governed nonprofits operate. This voluntary certification
program provides nonprofit organizations across the country with
the opportunity to demonstrate that the Standards have been implemented
in their own organization.
Nationally, at the encouragement of the U.S.
Senate Finance Committee, the nonprofit sector formed the Panel
on the Nonprofit Sector in 2004
to prepare recommendations for Congress to improve the oversight
and governance of charitable organizations. This Panel remains
in operation and expects to release a third set of recommendations
this year that focuses on financial reporting standards and self-regulation
by charitable organizations.
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