CARF accreditation consulting
Prepared by someone who conducts the surveys.
Ten years as a CARF surveyor, spent reading other organizations’ documentation the way a surveyor reads it. Most consultants hand you a gap list and an invoice. Wagner Advisory Group hands you the policies, plans, and evidence a surveyor expects to see, drafted against the current standards and mapped to the numbers they will cite.
The problem
The standards are not the hard part. The evidence is.
Most organizations pursuing CARF accreditation already do good work. What stalls them is documentation, a strategic plan that addresses every planning consideration, policies that cross-reference the right standard numbers, and a paper trail that shows conformance rather than asserting it.
That work is slow, unfamiliar, and easy to get wrong in ways you only discover during the survey. Quality directors end up rewriting policies at night while running a program by day.
- You know you need a strategic plan, but not what a surveyor will look for in it.
- Your policies exist, but nothing ties them to specific standards.
- A payer or state contract now requires accreditation and the clock has started.
- You have been through a survey before and left with recommendations you never closed.
- You are opening a new program and building the quality framework from nothing.
How it works
A clear path from where you are to survey-ready.
-
Discovery call
A free 20–30 minute conversation about your programs, your timeline, and what is already in place. No pitch. The goal is an honest read on how far you are from ready.
-
Gap analysis
A structured assessment against the standards that apply to your programs, delivered as a prioritized action plan you can act on with or without further help.
-
Preparation
Policy and document development, standards interpretation, staff coaching, and evidence assembly, working from templates that already exist rather than starting from a blank page.
-
Mock survey
A rehearsal under survey conditions. Interviews, document review, and a written report of what would be cited if the survey happened tomorrow.
-
Maintenance
Accreditation is a multi-year cycle. Ongoing check-ins, standards-update briefings, and help with annual conformance reports keep you ready between surveys.
Services
Four ways to work together.
Full accreditation preparation
Fixed project fee, scoped to your organization
End-to-end guidance from decision-to-pursue through survey. Standards interpretation, policy and procedure development, evidence assembly, staff preparation, and mock review.
Gap analysis and mock survey
Fixed fee, quoted after a discovery call
Short, high-impact diagnostics. Find out exactly where you stand before you commit to a survey date, or rehearse under realistic conditions before the real thing.
Document templates
Pricing on request
Ready-to-adopt, customizable strategic plans and policies, cross-referenced to specific standard numbers. Take what you need and adapt it yourself.
Maintenance retainer
Monthly retainer, scoped to your needs
Ongoing support between surveys, including standards updates, conformance reporting, and a standing line to someone who knows your file.
Who this is for
Small and mid-sized providers without a full-time accreditation specialist.
- Aging services, adult day programs, and home and community based providers
- Community mental health centers and behavioral health providers
- Substance use disorder and addiction treatment programs
- Employment services and workforce development programs
- Children’s services and family support programs
- New programs that must accredit to secure Medicaid, MCO, or commercial contracts
Not sure where you stand? The readiness self-assessment takes about five minutes and gives you an honest score plus the three things to fix first, with no email required.