CAPRA Updates

June 1, 2014, Department, by Danielle Price

If your agency is accredited or in the process of becoming accredited by CAPRA, make sure you check out this timeline for the implementation of the new 2014 Standards. During the past 18 months, a subcommittee of the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA) has been reviewing and revising the 2009 CAPRA Standards to ensure the standards are up to date and relevant to park and recreation agencies. After many rounds of revisions and various forms of public input, the new 2014 CAPRA Standards, 5th Edition, were approved by the full Commission March 31. The timeframe for implementation of the new 2014 CAPRA Standards is as follows: 

  • Nonmilitary agencies with visits in 2015 who opt to schedule their visit in the January–March timeframe will have the option of using either the 2009 Standards or the 2014 Standards.
  • Nonmilitary agencies with visits in 2015 who opt to schedule their visit in the May–July timeframe will be required to use the 2014 Standards.
  • Military agencies with visits in 2015 will be held to the 2010 CAPRA DoD Standards.
  • The revisions for the CAPRA DoD Standards are currently taking place, with the intention of full implementation in 2016 (applicable for military agencies only).
  • Some of the changes seen in the new edition of the standards are:
  • Merged commentary: To help streamline the document and avoid confusion, commentary for each standard was blended into the standards language or deleted. 
  • Preamble added for each chapter: At the beginning of each chapter, a few introductory paragraphs were added to help explain the intent of the chapter and what the standards were trying to accomplish. 
  • References to “Management of Parks and Recreation Agencies, 3rd Edition”:  This textbook is a great management tool and has been used as a reference in many accreditation presentations. Chapter and page references have been included to provide an easy source of subject matter information.
  • PRORAGIS™: This is an important tool developed to create a national recreation and parks database and is the source for critical data designed to assist park and recreation professionals in the effective management and planning of their resources and facilities. 
  • Support for the NRPA Strategic Plan: The recently adopted NRPA Strategic Plan was developed to include three key pillars to increase the impact and awareness of parks and recreation in conservation, health and wellness, and social equity. Standards already exist for conservation and social equity, however, there were no standards to support health and wellness. A new standard for health and wellness was added in Chapter 6 as well as revision to Standard 6.4 to include more language on healthy eating and physical activity. 
  • Evidence of Compliance (EOC) submission: Under the new standards, agencies are required to submit all of their electronic EOC with their self-assessment at least 10 weeks prior to the scheduled visit. 

In the coming months, the Commission will provide updated training through recorded webinars in our Online Learning Center, as well as offering live chats.

A special thank you goes out to the Commission subcommittee members who spent countless hours working on these standards: Dirk Richwine (Henderson, Nevada), John Henderson (Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Maryland), Sara Hensley (Austin, Texas), Matt Enoch (Fort Riley, Kansas), Lisa Pesavento (Chicago, Illinois) and Laura Wetherald (Howard County, Maryland).

Danielle Price is NRPA’s Education and Accreditation Manager.