LAC Community Services Department Receives CAPRA Accredidation

Published on October 07, 2024

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The Community Services Department was sanctioned as an accredited agency the Commission for Accreditation for Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA) through the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) today, at their annual conference. With this Accreditation, Los Alamos County joins the other 206 agencies nationwide and is the first and only County in New Mexico accredited for following industry best practice standards.

NRPA's CAPRA Accreditation delivers quality assurance and improvement to accredited park and recreation departments throughout the United States. This operational management system improves our infrastructure; increases efficiency in activities; and demonstrates accountability within our community. Implementation of this system also strengthens teamwork among department staff, embeds all aspects of CAPRA into our department’s internal culture, and establishes a continuous improvement mindset for all department activities.The accredited status demonstrates to our community that the department is a professional organization committed to the best practices in the industry and embodies a spirit of continuous improvement to enrich the quality of life in our community. The Los Alamos County Manager, Anne Laurent stated “I am very proud and appreciative of the Community Services team for taking on and achieving the CAPRA accreditation. Our staff works hard serving our community and I want to thank them for all their efforts.”

The Community Services Department has been working to meet the 154 standards of the accreditation requirements for the past three years. The 154 standards cover 10 categories of best practices for parks and recreation agencies. The week of May 13-17, 2024, the department hosted the peer review committee to review its evidence of compliance and tour Los Alamos County facilities. The committee found that the Community Services Department met 154 of 154 standards, which is uncommon. As such the Los Alamos County Community Services Department was recommended to be accredited by the CAPRA Commission, at the October NRPA Conference.

Los Alamos County Community Services Director Cory Styron stated, “CAPRA Accreditation is an honor that the Community Services Department is proud to hold. The CAPRA standards are based on best practices for the industry and demonstrate our commitment to professionalism, continuous improvement, community service, and being in the top 1% of agencies in the USA.” Cory has been the Community Services Director since 2020 and this is his third agency to gain accreditation under his leadership.

The community can review the standards, link to documents referenced in the self-assessment, and report from CAPRA at: https://www.losalamosnm.us/Government/Departments-and-Divisions/Community-Services/CAPRA