The Broward drug court, the country's oldest, is the first to be accredited under CARF. The accreditation is valid for three years.

"The impact of the accreditation speaks to the quality of services overall," said Kristina Gulick, director of BSO's Department of Community Control. "The accreditation adds impact to our services and lets our consumers and the country know we are providing good services."

The BSO's drug-court treatment program meets the CARF standards as well as the Ten Key Components for drug courts developed by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) with the support of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Broward program features group counseling, social adjustment, drug screening, Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholic Anonymous programs, long-term residential treatment, and court-approved alternative programs.

The program also meets 858 CARF standards and substandards in such areas as business practices, risk-management, program structure and staffing, recovery support services, and ethics.

"Being accredited gives that extra status to an organization and helps them demonstrate more easily that they are a quality program," said Nikki Migas, managing director of CARF's behavioral health customer-service unit.