Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The FLETA Standards and Procedures (2010 Edition) states:

Supporting evidence must exist to indicate the academy is in compliance with each standard. During the Academy assessment, supporting evidence must come from 50% of the Academy’s other programs (up to a maximum of five other programs) not including the basic training or instructor development training program(s) already accredited.

Assessors are trained that the agency will determine what evidence to use to support each standard. The evidence will be a sampling of the academy’s programs that the agency designates for Academy accreditation. It does not mean the agency must have evidence in each file for each program used to demonstrate compliance.

Assessors should not require or expect the agency to provide evidence for each of the designated programs in each file. This does not mean that an assessor may not ask for additional evidence from the designated programs, if it is necessary to demonstrate compliance with the standard. As with all assessments, the purpose of supporting evidence is to demonstrate that the agency is following its own processes.

The FLETA Board has determined that contract personnel are not authorized to conduct assessments of an academy and/or program for consideration by the FLETA Board for a determination of accreditation. The FLETA Board based their decision on federal regulations and legal opinion. Therefore, contract personnel are prohibited from performing FLETA assessments.

As outlined in the FLETA Standards and Procedures Manual (2010 Edition), the self-assessment of an academy and/or program prior to the FLETA assessment is the property and responsibility of the agency. Therefore, an agency may allow contract personnel to perform self-assessments on the agency’s own academy and/or programs. The FLETA Board is not responsible for the use of contractors during the self-assessment process.

Contract personnel may attend the FLETA Assessor Training Program (ATP) with written endorsement from the respective agency. Contract personnel may also attend the Accreditation Manager Workshop and the FLETA Fundamentals. The agency and/or contracting company is responsible for funding all travel and per diem.

Government employees have first priority for all FLETA training. Contract personnel may be removed from the roster to accommodate a government employee. Finally, contractors are not authorized to participate in the Team Leader Training Program.

Additional questions regarding the use of contractors in the FLETA process can be sent to FLETA@dhs.gov.

The FLETA community can suggest the creation, deletion, or revision of FLETA Standards through the “Standards Revision Form”.

The “Standards Revision Form” is available on the FLETA.gov website in the Forms section. Download and complete Section 1 of the form. Unless submitted by a current Board member, the form must have the name and title of a supervisor within the agency who concurs with the recommendation. Submit the completed form to the Office of Accreditation. The form can be mailed, faxed, or emailed.

Upon receipt, the OA will complete Section 2 of the form and forward it to the FLETA Standards Steering Committee (SSC) Chairperson for review and consideration.

Section 3 will be completed when the Standards Steering Committee meets and reviews the recommendation. If the SSC approves the recommendation, notation will be made on the form and the SSC will make the recommendation to the Board. If the SSC approves the recommendation with changes, notation will be made on the form and the recommendation with the necessary changes will be made to the Board. If the SSC disapproves the recommendation, notation will be made on the form. All “Standards Revision Forms” regardless of decision will be archived by the OA.

The Standards Steering Committee formally reviews the standards annually. The OA will maintain all received “Standards Revision Forms” until the Standards Steering Committee meets.

Authority: FLETA Bylaws, approved July 14, 2010; FLETA Standards and Procedures Manual (2010 Edition)

Recently there have been questions regarding reaccreditations and the structure of the folders, specifically the ISCR and the 2010 standards. The Transition Policy for the 2010 Standards and Procedures states in part:

Item 6:  “If an agency has a FLETA assessment scheduled more than six months from the publication of the 2010 FLETA standards, the agency is expected to transition to the 2010 FLETA standards before the next assessment and report on the transition progress in the annual report.” 

The transition policy was in effect for six months following the publication of the 2010 standards, which was in October 2010. The transition policy expired in March 2011, which means all agencies should have converted all of their standards files completely to the 2010 standards. A Related Standards Key was provided to assist agencies in transitioning the old material to the appropriate new standards folder. Each standards folder for reaccreditation should include the previous assessment’s ISCR, plus the current ISCR, which will include the 2010 standard. Directives/Policies and Supporting Evidence should be included for each year under review. It is not expected that an agency should go back to create new evidence for the previous years where they were adhering to the 2005 standard. As of March 2011 all assessments are conducted using the 2010 standards and the current ISCR should be based on the 2010 standards.

The OA has created two sample ISCRs – one is a blank template, the other shows what the ISCR may look like with the information filled in.

Authority: FLETA Standards and Procedures Manual (2010 Edition)

Related Items

• Sample ISCR for Reaccreditation (PDF)

• Sample ISCR for Reaccreditation Template (PDF)

Each FLETA accreditation cycle is an independent review of an academy and/or program. Once accredited, the original proofs of compliance are not applicable for reaccreditation. Therefore, the FLETA Board does not require that agencies maintain accreditation files past the cycle in which the academy and/or program were accredited. Each agency is responsible for maintaining and disposing of accreditation documentation in accordance with the agency’s records disposition schedule. 

The FLETA Board does not direct an agency’s records disposition or set policy for applicant agencies. Agencies may find it beneficial to retain accreditation records until the academy or program has been reaccredited. The retention of accreditation files for a minimum of one cycle provides a reference if an agency reports non-compliance during the yearly report cycle. The decision to retain accreditation records is the discretion of the agency generating and collecting the records. 

Please go to the approved minutes of the March 22, 2012 Board Meeting for the complete approved minutes and other additional guidance and decisions.

The FLETA Board approved revised wording of three definitions that appear in the Glossary of the FLETA Standards and Procedures (2010 Edition).

Please go to page five of the approved minutes of the November 17, 2011 Board Meeting for the complete language of the definitions of Basic Training, Programs, and Instructor Development Training:

FLETA Board Minutes - November 17, 2011 (PDF)

Assessors are trained that policy/directives and supporting evidence must be signed, dated or otherwise authenticated.

Policy/Directives: If agency/academy policy authorizes the use of electronic signatures, then a /s/, //s//, “signature on file”, or other electronic signature, deemed appropriate by the agency, is acceptable. The assessor may ask to see a document that authorizes a specific type of signature or authorizing mark (such as a stamp, seal, /s/, or any other mark). Further, if a policy is on an official agency website, it may be accepted as authentic. It is not up to the assessor whether they approve how the agency/academy authorizes policy/procedures, but that the agency/academy has a process and follows it consistently.

Supporting Evidence: Authentication will depend on the type of evidence, how it is generated, and any formatting or agency/academy procedures for generating the evidence. Authentication can be demonstrated through various methods such as, but not limited to: title on a document, date in the footer, database screen shot, printout where document is located on the agency/department website, copy of log book entries, photos of facilities/training, printouts of rosters, evaluation analysis reports, emails, and etc. Assessors are trained to use a realistic approach to how supporting evidence is authenticated. Some general guidelines include:

 ·         If forms are used, the forms must be completed to demonstrate compliance with agency/academy procedures.

 ·         Protection of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) may require the agency to redact information. This is acceptable and the assessor should accept the form as completed.

 ·         If the evidence has a signature block on the form or document, then it should be signed according to the agency/academy policy for signatures.

 Some evidence will not have a signature/approval block and the assessor is expected to use a common sense approach when reviewing the material to determine authentication (via type of document, date on document, screen shot, etc.).

The change in policy was effective August 2010; therefore, any supporting evidence collected for Academy reaccreditation prior to August 2010 may include evidence from “basic” or “instructor development” programs. Post-August 2010, the supporting evidence must comply with the “50%” rule as delineated in the Standards and Procedures Manual (2010 Edition).

Authority: FLETA Standards and Procedures Manual (2010 Edition)

See the FLETA Standards and Procedures Manual (2010 Edition), page 19, "FLETA File Evaluation Guidelines".

Program accreditation is specific to a program. There are 52 standards that must be met in the areas of program administration, staff/instructor training and development, training development, and training delivery. When an agency applies for program accreditation, all the policies/directives and evidence will demonstrate that a specific program is compliant with the standards. The agency must submit a separate application for each program seeking accreditation.

Program accreditation is not transferable. If a program is dissolved, or the whole or parts of a program are transferred into another program, the new program must be reviewed following the FLETA process and be found compliant for all applicable standards before accreditation is granted.

Academy accreditation is the recognition that all programs that an academy manages are administered, developed, and delivered in the full spirit of the FLETA standards. To be eligible to apply for academy accreditation, a training organization must achieve accreditation for all entry-level/basic programs and either use a FLETA-accredited instructor development program or achieve accreditation for its initial/introductory instructor development program.

FLETA academy accreditation includes 72 standards: 20 standards specific to academy administration and management, and 52 program-related standards. The academy cannot use basic and instructor training programs in the 52 program files, unless the academy has no other programs (see FAQ: “What is the new procedure regarding supporting evidence for academy accreditation/reaccreditation with the “50% rule”?).

Authority: FLETA Standards and Procedures Manual (2010 Edition); clarified by FLETA Board, April 7, 2011

The FLETA Standards and Procedures (2010 Edition) states-

Supporting evidence must exist to indicate the academy is in compliance with each standard. During the Academy assessment, supporting evidence must come from 50% of the of the Academy’s other programs (up to a maximum of five other programs) not including the basic training or instructor development training program(s) already accredited. In the rare instance when an academy does not have additional programs, evidence may be used from the basic training and instructor development programs to demonstrate compliance. The applicant must ensure this exception is noted in the application for academy accreditation.

The goal is to show compliance with FLETA standards throughout the academy.

When completing the application for Academy Accreditation/Reaccreditation, the agency will list the training programs that will be used for supporting evidence. The number of programs used for supporting evidence will be based on the number of training programs within the academy.

If the agency has less than ten training programs, beyond their basic and instructor development training programs, then supporting evidence will come from 50% of the other programs.

If the agency has ten or more training programs, beyond their basic and instructor development training programs, then  supporting evidence comes from a maximum of five of the other programs.

No Academy supporting evidence may come from basic or instructor development training programs unless it meets the exception requirement (no other training programs).

The end product for Academy Accreditation will include 20 Academy Standard folders and 52 Program folders that contain supporting evidence from the 50% or up to the maximum of five other programs (excluding basic and instructor development programs). This means that the Academy will have 72 completed folders.

Authority: FLETA Standards and Procedures Manual (2010 Edition)

The FLETA Standards and Procedures (2010 Edition) states: "As with initial accreditation, if the agency had no opportunity to employ a particular directive/policy as it relates to the standard for a specific year(s), a memorandum signed by the AO attesting to that fact is sufficient to indicate continued compliance.” (pg. 20)

The FLETA Board has not had a situation occur yet where an academy or program has not conducted any training during the entire reaccreditation cycle. The Board established the yearly report process to provide agencies a communications vehicle. The FLETA Board expects an agency to use the yearly report process to notify them of any event or circumstance that an agency is facing during the process, in addition to reporting an agency's compliance with the FLETA Standards. The communication of such events provides the FLETA Board the opportunity to address it appropriately and equitably for all agencies.

FLETA reaccreditation occurs every three years and is an independent review of an academy or program. For each reaccreditation cycle, agencies must submit not applicable (NA) requests following the same process outlined in the FLETA Standards and Procedures Manual. The NA request covers the entire reaccreditation cycle unless changes to the program and/or academy occur that negate the request.

The FLETA Standards and Procedures (2010 Edition) states: “Reaccreditation is a fresh look at a program or academy to ensure continued compliance with the FLETA Standards.” (pg. 24)  

 “The purpose of the annual report is to assure the Board and the agency that the accredited program/academy continues to meet the FLETA standards and to ensure consistent, high-quality training continues to be provided. To accomplish this objective, the agency must complete a thorough review and analysis of the directives/policies and other proofs of compliance relative to each FLETA standard. The annual report is an opportunity for the agency to show they are in continued compliance with all applicable FLETA standards and provides the agency an opportunity to highlight improvements and/or activities the agency has implemented.” (pg. 22) The checklist included as part of the annual report form provides an outline for agencies to conduct the “complete and thorough review and analysis” of their accreditation materials during years one and two.

If an agency documents during their year one and two reports and their self-assessment certification memo that they are still compliant with all applicable standards, and the FLETA Assessment team identifies non-compliant issues, then the Corrective Action Plan (CAP)process would be followed as it would for initial reaccreditation. The CAP process is there to support an agency’s development throughout the process and will be followed systematically for initial and any subsequent accreditation. The FLETA Board will make the determination of compliance based on the outcome of the CAP.