Running Head: ACCOUNTABILITY STANDARDS

Accountability Standards
Students Name
Institution Affiliation

ACCOUNTABILITY STANDARDS

Introduction
Accountability is considered as a central component of human services; the nature of
responsibility placed to human service agency as well as the extent of public demands and needs
call upon careful accounting and clear accountability path on the resources and the results of the
agencies as well as individuals representing human services (Bloom & Farragher, 2010). Direct
service means active services on work as well as services rendered to the clients and not staff
functions. Therefore, this paper will discuss the how the standards of care influence direct
services, the influence that the standards have to the leaders of agencies and the influence of
accountability standards on the level of satisfaction of direct services (Chen & Graddy, 2010).
How Standards of Care influence Direct Services
It is evident that the standards are there to embed and promote the rights of the clients in
accessing human services. As such, they are able to influence how the people are going to be
helped by the agencies as well as individuals offering direct services. This means that the
standards of care influences the promotion of rights of the people accessing the services rendered
by human service organization and individuals. Secondly, they also assure that the community
that the service provider us able to provide that meets the needs and the demands of the clients
(Chen & Graddy, 2010). This example shows that the standards of care support the provision of
human services that meet the needs and the demands of the clients. Thirdly, the standards of care
also help in development of a systematic and common approach to quality monitoring and
review process. This role of the standards helps shape quality of service delivery to the clients,
quality is key (Timmermans & Epstein, 2010). Besides, they are also used in building
transparency in quality requirements between the service providers, the clients, and the
community. Likewise, the standards of care help influence the service providers selection of

ACCOUNTABILITY STANDARDS

independent review body that meets the expectations and requirements of the clients. Lastly,
standards of care are used to influence the culture of continuous quality improvement that is
based on direct service delivery.
Discuss the influence these standards have on how leaders of agencies manage daily
operations in an agency.
It is denoted that the standards of care are the best option that organizations as well as
individuals that offer human services are able to meet the demands and the needs of the clients.
First, the standards are rules in which the leaders have to abide with in order to provide the
service as needed (Timmermans & Epstein, 2010). For example, it is evident that they act as
direct quality adherence measures that have to follow to reduce the risks of negligence. It can be
considered that they are paths towards success and if not followed it means that the operations of
the organizations are not in the right path. Leaders have to promote the standards to make sure
that they follow the needed protocols in provision of human services (Chen & Graddy, 2010).
Discuss the influence of accountability standards on the satisfaction of direct service
workers in addition to how this might influence how the workers relate with the managers
of the agency.
The standards are important because they help the workers to offer the services as
stipulated by law or rules of delivery. It is like a policy document aimed at outlining the steps or
measures that should be taken to foster change and success (Chen & Graddy, 2010). To the
workers it influences the provision of their services as well as supports quality service that leads
to satisfaction. It helps in worker-manager relationship as it indicates the roles that the worker
should do and what the manager should do hence less role conflicts.
Conclusion

ACCOUNTABILITY STANDARDS
It can be conclude that both standards of care and accountability standards all act as
watch dogs. They help the workers, the manager and the agencies to work on a certain protocol
that support better service delivery as well as adherence to quality.

ACCOUNTABILITY STANDARDS

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References

Bloom, S. L., & Farragher, B. (2010). Destroying sanctuary: The crisis in human service
delivery systems. Oxford University Press.
Chen, B., & Graddy, E. A. (2010). The effectiveness of nonprofit leadorganization networks for
social service delivery. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 20(4), 405-422.
Timmermans, S., & Epstein, S. (2010). A world of standards but not a standard world: toward a
sociology of standards and standardization*. Annual review of Sociology, 36, 69-89.