You Are Here : Home / About Arlington/ News / News Articles / 2016 News Articles List / Arlington County Parks & Recreation Earns Renewed National Accred

Arlington County Parks & Recreation Earns Renewed National Accred

Published on October 12, 2016

Only 145 agencies nationwide recognized

Re-accreditation is extensive multi-year process

Highest level of industry standard achieved

Arlington County's Department of Parks & Recreation has been re-accredited by the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA). Only 145 out of more than 8,000 park and recreation agencies nationwide have achieved this level of excellence.

"Arlington County values its parks, recreation programs and natural resources," said Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey. "Maintaining national accreditation indicates that our parks staff and leadership are top notch and a real community asset. It reinforces the recent award from the Trust for Public Lands, which ranked our parks fourth in the nation."

The announcement of Arlington's renewed status was made Oct. 6 during the National Recreation and Park Association Congress in St. Louis.

Jane Rudolph, the County's Parks & Recreation director, said the latest evaluation reflects "significant efforts in sustaining our accreditation to assure a high level of professionalism and quality services that are valued by our community. This is an exciting time for us. We just updated our Strategic Plan and are finalizing our work to update our Public Spaces Master Plan. Being re-accredited confirms we have the tools and vision to make these plans a success."

CAPRA offers the only national accreditation for park and recreation agencies and is a measure of an agency's overall quality of operation, management and service to the community.

National accreditation through CAPRA is an extensive multi-year process that requires agencies to meet 151 standards representing elements of effective and efficient park and recreation operations.

Accredited agencies must fully meet 37 standards deemed fundamental to a quality agency and at least 103 remaining standards necessary for achieving excellence in operations and service. Accreditation is valid for five years.

CAPRA is comprised of representatives from National Recreation and Park Association, the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration, the National Association of County Park and Recreation Officials, the International City/County Management Association, the American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation, the Armed Forces Recreation Society and the Council of State Executive Directors.