Before the end of its then-current accreditation period, an organization must reapply (i.e., submit an Application for Reaccreditation) and have a site visit. Following the site visit, the Council makes a decision about the renewing applicant based on the Application for Reaccreditation, Draft Site Visit Report, the organization’s response, and the evaluation of the applicant's response in the preliminary Final Site Visit Report.

The Council may place an organization seeking reaccreditation into one of four categories:

Full Reaccreditation:

An organization placed in this category continues to meet all the Accreditation Standards, or in the case of an organization awarded Qualified Accreditation at the time of its initial review, meets all Standards at the time of reaccreditation. Regardless of whether an organization is awarded Full Accreditation or Qualified Accreditation at time of initial review, at the time of reaccreditation, AAHRPP awards Full Reaccreditation for five years. The accreditation period for organizations placed into Reaccreditation-Pending status (see below) or on Probation (see below) is five years minus the time the organization was in Reaccreditation-Pending status or on Probation.

Reaccreditation-Pending:

The Council may place an organization in the Reaccreditation-Pending category when all of the steps necessary for the application process for reaccreditation have not occurred or the organization’s Application for Reaccreditation does not meet the criteria for Full Reaccreditation. For organizations placed into Reaccreditation-Pending, the Council determines the organization is able to successfully complete the reaccreditation process or is willing to commit to taking corrective actions to meet the criteria for reaccreditation within a reasonable time period.

Based on a review of the organization’s response to any requested corrective actions, the Council decides whether to grant Full Reaccreditation, place the organization on Probation, or to revoke accreditation. The accreditation period for organizations placed into Reaccreditation-Pending status is five years minus the time the organization was in Reaccreditation-Pending. An organization that is placed in the Reaccreditation-Pending category remains on AAHRPP’s published list of accredited organizations.

Probation:

The Council places an organization on Probation when the organization does not meet the criteria for Full Reaccreditation and cannot make changes within a reasonable time period. Probation is also considered when the Council does not feel the organization is taking appropriate corrective actions as proposed in the Improvement Plan or a request for a Status Report (as described below).

An organization placed in the Probation category will be removed from AAHRPP’s published list of accredited organizations and must submit an Improvement Plan within the timeframe specified by Council. Based on a review of the organization’s response to any requested corrective actions in the Improvement Plan and the continued commitment of the organization, the Council may award Full Reaccreditation, keep an organization on Probation and request additional follow-up, or revoke accreditation. At its discretion, the Council may require a Limited Site Visit or other actions before making a final accreditation determination.

Accreditation Revoked:

The Council may revoke accreditation at any time. The Council may revoke accreditation when an organization does not meet the criteria for Full Reaccreditation, and the Council believes the organization has demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to take effective corrective action. An organization placed in the Accreditation Revoked category will be removed from AAHRPP’s published list of accredited organizations.

In general, an organization in this category would have been placed initially on Probation and did not make the requested corrective actions to meet the timeline described in its Improvement Plan. Accreditation may also be revoked by AAHRPP for failure to comply with AAHRPP requirements, including those related to the payment of fees, as described here.

• If an organization fails to submit payment of its annual fee within 90 days of the date on its invoice, it will be placed on Financial Hold. Financial Hold means that until an organization pays its fees, AAHRPP will not process any submissions related to its accreditation (including but not limited to, Annual Reports or Applications for Reaccreditation). If an organization does not pay its fees within 6 months of receiving its annual fee invoice, its accreditation will be revoked.
• If an organization fails to submit accreditation/reaccreditation materials by their respective due dates, the organization will be notified of its failure to submit by AAHRPP. The organization will be provided with one extension to its submission deadline, if appropriate. If the organization fails to meet its extension deadline, the organization will be presented to the Council for its consideration and determination of the organization’s accreditation status.