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Recognition and Presentation of Community Services Department accreditation by Commission for Accreditation of Parks and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA)
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In October 2024, the Community Services Department (CSD) received notification of its accreditation by the Commission for Accreditation of Parks and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA) from the National Parks and Recreation Association (NPRA), making Los Alamos the first County in New Mexico to achieve this distinction. This significant accomplishment followed three years of dedicated efforts by the Community Services Department staff to evaluate and enhance existing processes against the best practices provided in the CAPRA standards.
Over the past three years, CSD has worked diligently to meet the 154 accreditation standards, which encompass ten categories of best practices for parks and recreation agencies. The categories include: 1) Agency Authority,Role and Responsibility, 2) Planning, 3) Organization and Administration, 4) Human Resources, 5) Financial Management, 6) Program and Service Management, 7) Facility and Land Use, 8) Public safety, Law Enforcement and Security, 9) Risk Management, 10) Evaluation, Assessment and Research. During the week of May 13-17, 2024, the department hosted a peer review site visit team to assess CSD's evidence of compliance as they relate to the self assessment and conduct tours of Los Alamos County facilities. The site visit team determined that the department met all 154 standards, a remarkable achievement. Los Alamos County Community Services Department was bestowed accreditation by the CAPRA Commission at the October 2024 NRPA Conference.
CAPRA accreditation is a prestigious honor that CSD is proud to hold. The accreditation should assure the community and partners that CSD is regarded as a professional agency living a culture embodied by the "Best of the Best" in the industry. The CAPRA standards, rooted in industry best practices, reflect our commitment to profession...
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