The National Early Childhood Program Accreditation was established in 1991 to encourage quality and recognize excellence in early childhood programs throughout the United States and other countries.  We pledge to remain focused on the interests of children by promoting benchmarks for high quality standards throughout the early care and education profession.  We are “The Next Generation in Accreditation".

The NECPA has adopted and implemented a set of principled business ethics and conduct that acknowledges and expresses our strong commitment and responsibility to our programs and the children they serve.  In our quest for excellence, we aspire to faithful adherence to these founding principles.  Our activities will consistently be congruent with these original concepts and principles, so that we may continue to be a force for ethical business conduct within the early childhood industry.

We aim to ensure our approach is practical and focused on our main business objective, delivering a choice in voluntary early childhood program Accreditation.  We recognize the value that NECPA adds to the field of early childhood and the importance of conducting our activities in a responsible and ethical manner.  As a not-for-profit organization supporting independent review of programs world-wide, we are aware that our core values and business activities impact our stakeholders.  We are aware of new and emerging opportunities and challenges in the field, regularly consulting with a range of professional experts to gather feedback on our performance.  NECPA not only recognizes the need for high quality care in the education for children, but also for our own performance. We are cognizant of the need to understand issues affecting our enrolled and accredited programs.

Principles

Integrity

NECPA accepts the responsibility to create an organizational culture in which integrity is paramount to guard our conduct with community programs, employees, regulators, business partners and the community. Our essential purpose is to always adhere to applicable best practices and to maintain openness, fairness, integrity and diligence, encouraging personal accountability on all organizational levels.

Pursuit of Excellence

The NECPA is committed to the goal of delivering excellent service from initial contact with a program and continuing until that program achieves Accreditation.  We understand that within each program are people who have the right to respect and dignity.  All representatives of NECPA shall act in accordance. We agree to openly listen to our customers, and respect their right to privacy and confidentiality.  We will stand impartial when interacting with programs, and conform to strict confidentiality agreements. We acknowledge that all representatives must avoid any conflicts of interest, and deliver consistent and reliable levels of customer service.  We pledge to handle complaints promptly and fairly.

Responsibility

The NECPA is vested in being reliable and quick to respond by carrying out our business with fairness and integrity. We pledge to act ethically, recognize our boundaries and adhere to a strict policy of no conflict of interest.

Our Commission is accountable for developing and implementing policies, and the Council and Commission alone consider and determine final status of programs. We have a responsibility to maintain effective procedures to prevent confidential information from being misused and make it clear that the use of confidential information for personal or corporate gain will not be tolerated.   We understand that we must live our strong values, and provide clear leadership and act responsibly at all times.  We are committed to awarding Accreditation solely on the basis of merit as determined by our Automated Accreditation Indicator System.  Therefore, representatives of NECPA will behave ethically with the giving and receiving of hospitality or gifts.  Our business dealings will be open, cooperative and transparent.  We will not tolerate any inappropriate breaches of relevant conflict of interest.  We will act responsibly as individuals and as an organization.

Reliability

As a leader in high quality program standards, and recognizing the advantages that children receive from accredited centers and schools, we will continue to reach out to leaders and key external stakeholders to continuously review emerging standards and best practice. We will challenge our reliability by fostering a positive high performance culture, encourage continuous quality improvement, and creating strong leadership and diversity.

We are determined to show a relentless desire for success of our programs, and will at all times create positive and effective working relationships.  We will take due care in the selection of our third party advisers, and aid our programs by always presenting factual information, listening to their views and taking proactive action by disclosing relevant information to help them focus on delivering early care and education that meets the standards of national Accreditation.

Commitment

All employees and other persons acting on behalf of NECPA are expected to treat compliance with this Code of Conduct as an important element of their relationship with NECPA.