The Department of Juvenile Justice's quality assurance (QA) process uses appropriate standards that are similar to those used by national accreditation organizations. Due to differences in the timing and thoroughness of the QA and accreditation processes, accreditation should not substitute for QA reviews. The department can improve and streamline its program monitoring and QA processes by

• strengthening the correlation between QA scores and key outcomes such as escapes and injuries that can indicate management problems;
• using a process for the security portion of the QA process similar to that used by the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program;
• using a risk-based system of determining when to conduct monitoring visits;
• incorporating performance outcomes into corrective actions plans; and,
• strengthening the training and guidance it provides to program monitors.