In 2006, the Richland County Recreation Commission (RCRC) became the first and only recreation agency in South Carolina to be nationally accredited by the Commission of Accreditation for Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA). On Tuesday, October 4, CAPRA officially reaccredited RCRC during the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) Congress and Exposition, which was held in St. Louis, Missouri. RCRC is one of only 141 accredited Parks and Recreation agencies in the United States and is still one of only three nationally accredited agencies in South Carolina. This was RCRC’s second re-accreditation which must be passed every five years.
“We are overjoyed to receive this prestigious award which is a very rare accomplishment among recreation and park agencies,” said Commission Chair J. Marie Green. “It comes as a result of a lot of hard work on the part of all RCRC staff and administration. CAPRA accreditation assures the general public and taxpayers that RCRC delivers the highest level of quality service.”
CAPRA accreditation is the only national accreditation for park and recreation agencies. The process of obtaining and maintaining accreditation is a rigorous and multi-year process and is valid for five years. CAPRA is comprised of 10 major categories: Agency Authority, Role and Responsibility; Planning; Organization and Administration; Human Resources; Financial Management; Program and Service Management; Facility and Land Use Management; Public Safety, Law Enforcement, and Security; Evaluation, Assessment and Research. Within these categories are 151 standards. RCRC met 100% of the fundamental standards and 150 of 151 the total standards!
In the exit interview conducted by the CAPRA Visitation Team, one team member stated that “they had never seen a more beautiful golf course and our passion for CAPRA really shows through our work”.