Behavioral health accreditation: CARF, COA and The Joint Commission side by side

Standards in its Behavioral Health manual are for “integrated behavioral health, mental health, substance use disorders/addictions, psychosocial rehabilitation, and family services” (CARF: Behavioral Health).

Unit accredited, from CARF’s general steps page, which covers all areas of accreditation: the decision letter step says the organization receives “a certificate of accreditation that lists the program(s)/service(s) included in the accreditation” (CARF: steps to accreditation).

“COA Accreditation accredits the full continuum of social and human services.” (COA Accreditation)

Private organization track (the page also describes a track for organizations that offer only early childhood education, out of school time or youth development services, with program specific and full-organization accreditation): “Most organizations that achieve COA Accreditation are private organizations and receive full-organization accreditation. We conduct in-depth reviews of all services for which we have standards, as well as administration and management practices.” (COA Accreditation)

“Behavioral Health Care and Human Services Accreditation is available to organizations that provide a wide range of community-based services and programs within a variety of settings across the continuum of care.” (Joint Commission: Behavioral Health Care and Human Services)

The page adds: “A standards applicability process in the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Behavioral Health Care (CAMBHC) identifies which standards apply to the various settings and populations”. Whether accreditation attaches to the whole organization or to individual programs is not stated on the pages we reviewed.

From CARF’s general steps page, which covers all areas of accreditation: “Our surveyors are industry peers who follow a consultative (rather than inspective) approach in conducting the survey.”

“The survey team conducts the survey and determines your conformance to all applicable standards by observing services, interviewing persons served and other stakeholders, and reviewing your documentation.”

On timing, the page says “The survey application gathers the two-month timeframe in which you would like the survey to be conducted”. The page does not state how much notice of the survey date is given. (CARF: steps to accreditation)

The process includes a self-evaluation, then an on-site review: “A team of volunteer peer reviewers conducts the onsite review.”

“Our experienced Accreditation Commission reviews the report and your documentation, and it approves your accreditation or requests more information.”

The COA pages we reviewed do not state how much notice of the onsite review an organization receives. (COA Accreditation)

“Accreditation is awarded upon successful completion of an onsite survey, conducted by a Joint Commission surveyor, or team of surveyors”. The same page says “Surveyors have clinical and leadership experience, ensuring the survey is relevant to the facility’s specialty.” (Joint Commission: Behavioral Health Care and Human Services)

From the general accreditation process page, which is not specific to behavioral health: “Most Joint Commission surveys are unannounced, except for non-deemed initial surveys.” The page does not say whether this applies to behavioral health initial surveys. (Joint Commission: accreditation process)

From CARF’s general steps page, which covers all areas of accreditation, the possible accreditation decisions are: “Five-Year Accreditation (CCRCs only)”, “Three-Year Accreditation”, “One-Year Accreditation”, “Provisional Accreditation” and “Nonaccreditation”. The page does not state a term for One-Year or Provisional decisions. (CARF: steps to accreditation)

“COA Accreditation is valid for four years, except for opioid treatment programs, which are mandated by SAMHSA to be accredited for three years.” (COA Accreditation)

From the general accreditation process page: the decision is “valid for approximately three years”, and “Organizations can expect an unannounced survey between 30 to 36 months after the previous full survey” (Joint Commission: accreditation process).

From CARF’s general steps page, which covers all areas of accreditation: the steps list “Submit an Annual Conformance to Quality Report (ACQR)” and says “Upon achieving accreditation, you will need to submit an ACQR.” (CARF: steps to accreditation)

“Organizations must submit an annual report to maintain the implementation of standards.” (COA Accreditation)

From the general accreditation process page: “The Intracycle Monitoring (ICM) process helps accredited organizations maintain performance and standards compliance throughout the three-year cycle of accreditation.” The page describes these tools as including “an interactive self-assessment scoring tool”; it does not state whether a report is submitted. (Joint Commission: accreditation process)

Not stated on the pages we reviewed. Pages reviewed: CARF: Behavioral Health and CARF: our standards. The Behavioral Health page labels two items in its program and specialty-designation lists, Sobering Center and Integrated Primary Care, “New in 2026” without naming a manual edition.

“The 2026 edition of updates to the standards for COA Accreditation” is described as available, and “Standards assignments for COA Accreditation using the new standards began April 20.” The page is dated May 5, 2026, so the date is April 20, 2026. (Social Current: 2026 COA Accreditation Standards Updates)

The standards library is titled “2026 Standards PDF Library” (Social Current standards library).

The standards manuals page lists a “2026 CAMBHC Behavioral Health Care and Human Services Update Service” and a “2027 CAMBHC Behavioral Health Care and Human Services Update Service” (Joint Commission: standards manuals). Which edition applies to a given survey date is not stated on the pages we reviewed.

CARF does not publish a fee schedule on the pages we reviewed; fees depend on scope. CARF’s general steps page, which covers all areas of accreditation, says the survey fee “is based on the number of surveyors and days needed to complete the survey” (CARF: steps to accreditation). Verify current fees with CARF.

COA does not publish a fee schedule on the pages we reviewed; fees depend on scope. In its Private Organization Accreditation block, the page says “The cost varies based on an organization’s size and services.” (COA Accreditation) Verify current fees with COA.

The Joint Commission does not publish a fee schedule on the pages we reviewed; fees depend on scope. The pricing page says “Accreditation fees are calculated based on the services provided and your average daily census.” (Joint Commission: accreditation pricing) Verify current fees with The Joint Commission.