CARF Child and Youth Services Accreditation Standards Updates
Written by Madison Wallace   

2024 CARF International Accreditation Standards Updates

The session focused on the accreditation area of behavioral health and overviewed the revised Crisis Intervention and Stabilization standards. Leslie Ellis-Lang, MSEd, LMFT and Theresa Lindberg guided the discussion. This webinar was not recorded, but you can click here to access the resource list. 

 

Meet the Speakers

 

Leslie Ellis-Lang, MSEd, LMFT, outgoing managing director of child and youth services at CARF International has more than 35 years of professional experience in the behavioral health and child welfare fields specializing with children, youth, young adults, and families. 

Prior to joining CARF in 2009, Leslie held leadership positions in not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. As a licensed marriage and family therapist trained in systems theory, she has focused on integrating clinical practice with administrative operations to improve both the outcomes for persons served and organizational performance. Her areas of expertise include quality management, program and policy development, training, clinical practice, and supervision.

Two unique highlights of Leslie’s career were participating in a pilot program as a treatment foster parent to deinstitutionalize youth from state institutions to specialized foster care homes and consulting with military families challenged in seeking treatment for their children while stationed out of country.

Additionally, in the realm of quality improvement prior to Leslie’s current position with CARF, she was a surveyor for both child and youth services and behavioral health programs for 12 years. Her experience with accreditation and application of standards expands beyond CARF as she has also led organizations through the accreditation process with other accrediting bodies and served as a consultant reviewer for the Children’s Bureau for the Federal Child and Family Services Review. Leslie earned a Master’s degree in Counselor Education from Northern Illinois University after receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education.

 
  Theresa Lindberg, MSC, LPC, is the new Child & Youth Services Managing Director for CARF. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Arizona and has been in the mental health and child welfare fields for over 13 years. Prior to joining CARF as a Resource Specialist, Theresa worked at a community mental health agency in Southern Arizona that focused on working with children and families. She served in many different roles including Child/Youth Therapist, Program Manager for Intensive In-Home Services and most recently as Clinical Director. Theresa worked with other agencies statewide to streamline processes and procedures for the In-Home Services program and as Clinical Director, she helped to create and build partnerships with over 25 schools to establish mental health services with students on campus.