Step 8: Complete Online Application in Certemy

After we receive payment of your fees, your organization may submit an application. You must first speak with a Certification Reviewer to access Certemy and begin your application. The organization responsible for the operations of the residence is the organization that must apply for certification. All dwellings operated by this organization must apply for the organization to become a WVARR Certified organization.

Each dwelling will have its own application; please submit policies and procedures that are specific to the population of people who live there and specific to the level of care provided within that particular dwelling.

These applications must be submitted online through the Certemy platform. You will be required to create an account and a professional profile in order to complete an application.

Click here to watch a brief video overview of the Certemy platform and how to begin your application.

For technical support when submitting your application (issues with the website) you can email support@certemy.com

For questions regarding the content on the application itself, you can email your designated certification reviewer.

The Certification Application will require you to upload copies of specific documentation. The documentation requested will vary depending on the level of housing that you operate, the target population you serve, and the specific services you offer.

You will be required to upload the following documents into your initial application:

• Recovery Environment Questionnaire
• NARR Code of Ethics
• Certificate of General Liability Insurance
• Insurance Billing Agreement/MOU with 3rd Party Payer
• Resident Intake Packet:
  • Resident Application/Evaluation
  • Release of Information
  • Statement of Resident Rights
  • House Rules / Code of Conduct
  • Resident Financial Agreement
  • Refund Policy
  • Personal Property Policy
  • Prohibited Items List and Search Policy
  • Drug Testing Policy
  • Relapse Policy
  • Grievance Policy
  • Good Neighbor Policy
  • Resident Agreement
• Medication Policies:
  • Prescription Medication Policy
  • Non-Prescription Medication Policy
  • Safe Drug List
  • MAT (Medication Assisted Treatment) Policy
• Emergency Policies:
  • Medical, Fire, Natural Disaster Policy & Procedure
  • Narcan Policy & Procedure
  • Overdose Policy & Procedure
• Communicable Disease Policy
• COVID-19 Policy
• EBT/SNAP documents
• Paid Work Agreement
• Staffing Policies:
  • Staffing Plan
  • Staff Job Descriptions
  • Confidentiality Policy
  • Staff Background Check policy*
• Social Media Policies
• Sample Weekly Schedule of Activities
• Sex Offender Registry Compliance Policy*
• Other documents as appropriate for your level of housing, target population, and specific services provided.

*These policies are requirements outlined by WV Code 69-CSR-15.

After you submit your application, a representative from WVARR will review it and any corresponding documents submitted with your application and inform you of the results of this review within 15 business days (about 3 weeks). WVARR will review all submitted documents and will use the documentation checklists to ensure that your submitted documents contain all required elements. WVARR staff will send you a formal communication if we have any questions or require you to submit additional documents with your application. You will receive a WVARR Application Report pertaining to your Administrative Domain Review and your documentation and may be required to make changes or updates based on our review before moving to the next phase of the process.

Once your application has been fully approved, we will schedule an interview (Step 9) with your organization. Following your interview, we will schedule the on-site visits for each residence you operate (Step 10). Based on information gathered during the interview and on-site visit, you may be required to make changes or modifications to the policies submitted in your original application.

If it is determined that your documents are incomplete or do not meet quality standards, you will be allowed an opportunity to make quality improvements (Step 11). A summary of these requirements will be sent to you in writing in your organization’s Quality Improvement Plan (QIP). You will be required to make these modifications and improvements within a specific timeframe. If you are unable to make the improvements within the designated timeframe, your application will lapse and you will be required to restart the process.

Your organization must respond to this QIP communication with answers to questions, copies of any missing documents, and any necessary quality improvements within 20 business days (about one month). If you do not respond to WVARR within the required time frame, your application will lapse. Your response must be complete and address all questions and quality improvement recommendations outlined in your QIP.

WVARR will review the response provided by your organization within 10 business days and determine if your organization adequately meets all compliance metrics required for certification.

Step 9: Video Call Interview

After your application has been reviewed and fully approved, representatives from WVARR will schedule an online, video (Zoom, Go-to-Meeting, or another online platform) interview with your organization. The interview will be performed by WVARR’s Certification Review staff. The WVARR reviewers will be available to answer any questions about the quality standards or the review process. Official recommendations will be communicated to you by WVARR staff members at that time.

During the interview you should be prepared to:

• Describe your application and orientation process and how you screen residents.
• Describe how you keep track of resident payments.
• Answer questions about your program, the services you provide, and how you connect residents to outside recovery and community resources.
• Answer questions about how all of your policies are being implemented in practice.

Step 10: On-Site Interview & Dwelling Review

Following your interview, WVARR will schedule an on-site visit for each of the residences operated by your organization. In order to perform the on-site visit, the residence must be in operation for at least 60 days and have at least 60% occupancy. WVARR staff will travel on-site to all residences operated by your organization. WVARR staff will send you a Pre-Inspection Checklist prior to your On-Site Visit. We strongly encourage you to walk through the buildings with this checklist and the standards in mind before we visit your facilities.

Your inspection will be performed by two WVARR Certification Staff Reviewers. They will ensure that all important topic areas are covered, ensure all paperwork is complete, be available to answer any questions you have about the quality standards, and make any necessary technical recommendations. Your review process is not yet complete at this stage. Staff will not give you a certification determination at this time.

The on-site visit will begin with an interview. You will be asked questions about how your program operates and how your organization’s policies and procedures are implemented in practice. WVARR staff are encouraged to speak directly with available staff and residents.

The reviewers will then examine the physical dwelling. Although WVARR reviewers are not fire inspectors or building code inspectors, each residence is expected to comply with all relevant fire and building codes. Reviewers will be examining the recovery environment and ensuring the program meets the NARR Quality Standards 3.0.

During the on-site review you should be prepared to:

• Tell the reviewers about your application process and have copies of any documents that you would share with potential residents available.
• Walk the reviewers through your orientation process and have copies of any documents that you would share with residents available, including an intake packet with updated policies and procedures.
• Show reviewers where required documents are kept in each of the residences.
• Explain how you keep track of resident payments and explain how residents may access a statement of account or get a receipt of their payments.
• Answer questions about your program, the services you provide, and how you connect residents to outside resources.
• Show the reviewers the property. WVARR will look at all common areas of the residence as well as resident rooms.
• Demonstrate that written policies and procedures are being implemented in practice.
• Demonstrate that the residence is clean, safe, and home-like. Reviewers should be able to see that residence chores are being completed and that maintenance requests are addressed.
• Be sure bedrooms meet space requirements (70 square feet for the first person and 50 square feet for each additional person).
• Demonstrate that the residence has required safety equipment (such as smoke detectors in each sleeping room, CO2 detectors in homes with gas appliances, and fire extinguishers with up-to-date inspection tags).
• Show that there is adequate food storage space for residents, including one full-sized refrigerator per 5 residents. (5:1)
• Show that there is one full bathroom (at least one Sink, one Shower and one Toilet) for every 6 residents.
• Demonstrate that residents have adequate storage space for personal belongings.
• Demonstrate how the physical environment of the residence contributes to a family-like environment in the home and facilitates the social model of recovery.

Step 11: Implement Required Quality Improvements

After the on-site review, WVARR will provide you with an official Quality Improvement Plan within 15 business days. Every organization that applies for certification will get a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP), even if all requirements are adequately met. Your QIP will include the suggestions discussed in the interview and at the on-site inspection and will list any changes or quality improvements necessary for your organization to become fully compliant with NARR and WVARR certification requirements.

You will be required to respond to your Quality Improvement Plan within 20 business days. Acceptable responses to your organization’s Quality Improvement Plan include:

• Completing the required quality improvement activity and providing appropriate documentation that quality improvement activities have been implemented;
• Completing all required quality improvement activity within your organization’s current capacity and a timeline and detailed plan of how you are going to meet any additional requirements; or,
• Providing WVARR with a written response detailing how your organization currently meets the national quality standards without engaging in the required quality improvement activity.

If you do not respond to WVARR within the required timeframe, WVARR will make a certification determination based on the information we have available.

In some cases, WVARR may require a follow-up on-site review to verify quality improvement recommendations have been implemented. Any time an organization is required to remove beds from a residence, a second on-site review will be required.

If a second review is required, WVARR your organization to pay a supplemental inspection fee of $250. You can avoid payment of this second fee by ensuring your property is ready for an on-site review at the time of our visit.

Step 12: Approval

Once WVARR has received a response from your organization concerning any required quality improvements, WVARR staff will make a certification determination. WVARR staff will notify you within 15 business days about your certification determination.

Your organization may be:

• Fully approved for certification.
• Provisionally approved for certification, with contingencies.
• Placed on a Certification Hold, with optional technical support.
• Be fully denied and eligible to re-apply in 6-months, or other timeframe deemed appropriate by WVARR.

If your organization is fully approved for certification, you will receive a Certificate of Compliance for each WVARR-certified residence that you operate. Each Certificate of Compliance is required to be publicly displayed in the corresponding residence to which it applies.

As required by West Virginia law, each Certificate of Compliance will include:

• The name of the residence;
• The business/ Organization name;
• The number of beds certified in that residence;
• The specific gender/ population served;
• The specific residence address;
• The type of certification (initial, renewal, reinstatement);
• The NARR Level of Care;
• The duration of certification for that residence;
• The date of issue and expiration date of the certification; and,
• The certificate number.

Step 13: Renewal

All initial WVARR Certifications will be good for one year. It is recommended that you apply for renewal of your certification three months prior to your certification expiring. This will allow for enough time to complete the entire process. If you do not complete the entire process prior to your certification expiring, your certification will lapse.