QESST

Quality Enhancement Standards & Support Training

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QESST Vision

Quality Enhancement Standards & Support Training (QESST) responds to an emerging philosophy for system change within emergency assistance and prevention organizations. QESST is an accreditation process that encourages an emphasis on accountability, requiring organizations that voluntarily participate to allocate resources towards building capacity that meets the unique needs of under-served individuals within communities.


Participating organizations are expected to demonstrate efficient and effective use of personnel and donated funds, while documenting impact and positive outcomes to ensure that funding levels remain consistent. Contributors and donors seek assurance that their dollars are directly resulting in the delivery of support to under-served individuals in their community; QESST helps organizations build systems that can consistently provide that assurance.

QESST Program Aims

  • Empower

    Empowering organizations to enhance services designed for homeless individuals, with the intent of significantly reducing the amount of time that people experience homelessness. 

  • Enable

    Enabling the Georgia Alliance to End Homelessness to better facilitate its purpose of enhancing services based on the changing needs of Georgia's homeless population, ensuring that these needs are met effectively and efficiently. 

  • Ensure

    Ensuring that organizational standards for serving housing-insecure individuals effectively align with nationally accepted best practices. 


  • Devise & Deploy

    Devising & Deploying a methodology that recognizes programmatic strengths and weaknesses within organizations and make recommendations accordingly.

QESST Accreditation Benefits:

Underserved Individuals

  • Continuing improvement in service provision
  • A right to be heard in the individual surveys
  • Improved dignity, respect and safety
  • Improved opportunity for becoming self-sufficient
  • Enhanced programs that meet their individual needs

Communities

  • More efficient and effective services
  • Services that are dictated by community needs
  • Demonstrated accountability to contributors

Participating Organizations

  • A better and shared understanding of what the organization expects to achieve
  • A validation of goals and objectives that are based on existing community needs
  • A better understanding of the specific roles of the board, staff, and volunteers
  • A stronger organization with responsive services and support
  • The opportunity for greater community recognition
  • Increased financial support
  • Demonstrated Risk Management Commitment


GAEH

  • Accountability to the public for efforts made to achieve its goal of ensuring that underserved individuals are given the best opportunity to succeed through quality service provision
  • Ability to demonstrate outcomes in program efficiency and effectiveness to its contributors and to its underserved members

Organizational Commitment

Participating Organizations

The Accreditation process is voluntary.


Participating organizations are required to complete the process as follows:
• Participation in an Orientation;
• Completion of the self-assessment tool;
• Participatory site visit; and
• GAEH facilitated client survey or focus group.

GAEH

The QESST Team has agreed to a strict code of ethics and will sign a statement of confidentiality to protect participating organization and the organization’s participants.
The Fee for QESST Accreditation is based upon the applicant’s organizational budget and includes at least four hours technical assistance from the Alliance. On occasion Georgia Alliance to End Homelessness may be able to help secure a partial scholarship for smaller organizations committed to completing the process.

Want to Learn More?


Organizations that would like to receive additional information or inquire about the next QESST Orientation, contact GAEH Office



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