PROVIDENCE – Family Service of Rhode Island has received Better Business Bureau (BBB) accreditation, making it only the fourth Rhode Island nonprofit to earn the recognition.
“Our board took it on, saying we should meet the highest standards, whether it’s for nonprofit or for-profit,” CEO Margaret Holland McDuff told Providence Business News this week. “We should see if we’re using every public and private dollar to the best of our ability.”
The nonprofit – which offers social services ranging from outpatient counseling to foster care for children in state custody – last year had a $20 million budget, more than 80 percent of which is from state and federal sources, said Holland McDuff, who took over as CEO during 2001. The Providence nonprofit’s budget has doubled during the last five years, she said
When Holland McDuff started with Family Service as a social worker during 1990, there were about 30 employees. Now there are about 400 employees.
She described the BBB Standards for Charity Accountability accreditation process as “grueling.”
“It includes everything from board leadership to governance to management to quality indicators and, certainly, fiduciary responsibility,” Holland McDuff said. “It’s all the safeguards that go with that and a commitment to quality.”
Only 55 nonprofits around New England have so far received the Boston BBB’s Charity Accountability accreditation. In Rhode Island, the three others that have earned the distinction are the Star Kids Scholarship Program, in Middletown; Rhode Island Community Food Bank and Dorcas Place Adult & Family Learning Center, both in Providence.
The Boston BBB acquired the formerly independent Rhode Island BBB earlier this year.
It’s the second accreditation for Family Service of Rhode Island, which is also recognized by the Council on Accreditation, a board that recognizes nonprofits and for-profits that work in social services, said Family Service Senior Vice President Stephen Louis Hug.
Family Services of Rhode Island, with three offices in Providence and one in North Kingstown, was established in 1892 as a nonprofit social services agency. It provides social services ranging from outpatient counseling to foster care for children in state custody. For additional information, visit www.familyserviceri.org.
