Organisations that receive funding from a government department will usually be expected to sign a Service Agreement which is a legal document that describes the responsibilities of the funded organisation and the funding body.
Community organisations that are funded by the Department of Communities will also be expected to meet Community Service Standards. These standards provide clear guidelines about how funded organisations can improve their services and the way that they operate. You might also find these standards useful if you are applying for funding for other organisations or just to improve your organisation.
If your organisation is going to meet these standards, you will need to understand all of the requirements. The Community Service Standards are described in detail on the Department of Communities website, however a brief description is provided below.
The Department has developed 11 draft standards under three main areas:
- people using services
- people working in services
- governance and accountability
People using services
There are six standards that focus on the people who use a funded organisation’s services. These are intended to ensure that the organisation provides services that are open to the people who need to use them and responds to the needs of their communities. It is expected that the organisation will provide information to their clients that helps them to make good decisions about the services that they need.
Funded organisations are expected to ensure the privacy of their clients and not allow personal information to be misused. They are also expected to encourage their clients to offer suggestions and use them to improve their services. Finally, funded organisations are expected to provide services in a way that prevents their clients from harm which includes ensuring that your premises will not not cause injuries.
People working in services
There are three standards that focus on the people who work for a funded organisation. It is expected that all staff including volunteers selected to work for the organisation will have the qualifications and experience required to do their job. The organisation is also expected to provide opportunities for staff, including volunteers, to learn about the organisation and improve their knowledge and skills. Finally, funded organisations are expected to make sure that their staff, including volunteers, are given support. This might include feedback about how they are doing their job and providing a fair way of managing any disputes about their work.
Governance and accountability
There is one standard that focuses on how the organisation is managed and how well it meets all its legal, financial and administrative requirements or accountability to its funding bodies and any other relevant person, organisation or government department. Good governance and accountability includes ensuring that members of the management committee are elected properly and ensuring that there are ways of dealing with conflict of interest as well as many other requirements.
Policies for meeting the requirements
Your organisation may already meet some or all of the Community Service Standards as a requirement of another funding body and/or to ensure that you are providing high standards of service. You may even have developed a written policy or set of guidelines that clearly describes how your organisation does its work so that it can be understood by staff, the community and other organisations such as funding bodies.
To ensure that all organisations meet these standards, the Department of Communities has put together a list of suggested policies for each requirement. The first thing that you might want to do is check which policies your organisation already has and which it will need to develop. You will also need to ensure that any policies you have cover the necessary areas. All organisations are different, so you will need to develop policies that are relevant to the types of services that you offer.
As you develop your policies, you might also want to think about ways that you can ensure that your staff understand and act on the policies. For example, you might want to keep notes from your planning meetings and training sessions. It might also be useful to develop ways of finding out if your policies have had benefits for your clients. All of this information will be helpful when you are providing reports to funding bodies about your services and planning for the future of your organisation.
For more information about meeting the Community Service Standards including examples of policies, you might want to contact the Department of Communities.
Further information:
Last updated 2008-02-21