SESDAC, Inc. receives CQL Accreditation

Vermillion, SD -   Gerry Tracy, Executive Director of SESDAC, Inc., announced today that SESDAC, Inc. has been awarded a four year accreditation from The Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL).  The announcement completes a ten month process for SESDAC, Inc. and confirms that the organization shares CQL’s vision for person-directed solutions to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities and people with cognitive impairments.  The accreditation status puts SESDAC, Inc. in an elite group of one of several hundred agencies accredited internationally by CQL.

"It’s always rewarding to have an independent organization come in and review your practices and procedures and in turn receive their highest award.” says Executive Director, Gerry Tracy.  “SESDAC is committed to improving the quality of life for individuals with disabilities.  To continue to move forward we will need to work closely with organizations and people to grow and enhance the relationships of those we support within the community.”

James F. Gardner, Ph.D., President and CEO of CQL, stated, “CQL commends SESDAC, Inc.  for its success in increasing the quality of life for the people it supports. CQL Accreditation signifies organizational excellence in promoting a common vision of community participation and quality of life for all people.”

The accreditation received by SESDAC, Inc. meets the new standards announced by CQL in May, 2005 as part of its Quality Measures 2005® initiative. The new measures support strategies that enable service providers to develop a fully integrated quality management system.  The Quality Measures 2005® represent a major break-through in how organizations can evaluate their own effectiveness at providing quality supports for people with disabilities and people with mental illness.

The Quality Measures 2005® combine many of CQL’s existing innovative quality management practices into one core document that establishes a blueprint for moving an organization forward.  They call for service providers to integrate the assets of the social environment where they are based…an approach CQL has called Community Life®.

Currently, SESDAC, Inc. provides a diverse range of services to over 75 adults with developmental disabilities in a variety of settings in Clay and Union counties.  The type of service provided is tailored to an individual’s needs and desires.  SESDAC, Inc. offers residential support, case management, job development and job coaching, education and advocacy.  SESDAC, Inc. operates two Family Support programs providing services to 2 adults and 74 children and their families throughout 11 counties in southeast South Dakota.

Headquartered in Towson, Maryland, CQL is an international not-for-profit organization dedicated to the definition, measurement, and improvement of personal and community quality of life for people with disabilities and people with cognitive impairment.  Known as the innovators in the human services field, CQL has for almost 40 years challenged “conventional wisdom” while pioneering the concept of “person-directed solutions” for service and support organizations, state and national government agencies, regional systems and networks, and professionals and self-advocates.