Our Code of Ethics

The mission of Arapahoe House is to provide a continuum of accessible, affordable, and effective services for individuals and families with alcohol, drug and other behavioral health problems.

Our core values are:

Respect: We hold clients, staff, and customers in the highest regard and treat them with courtesy at all times.
Effective Services: We value and provide programs and services that have the most positive, lasting, and meaningful outcomes for clients.
Accessible Services: Our services are provided in convenient sites that accommodate client needs and reduce barriers to treatment, including cost, whenever and wherever possible.
Responsibility: We hold ourselves accountable for our successes and failures. We strive to make the best use of the resources entrusted to us by the community.

Our code of ethics is the path we follow to fulfill our mission in accordance with our values. It is aligned with our strategic plan. Each of our staff reads and acknowledges this code at hire and annually thereafter. We make public our code of ethics to all of our stakeholders, including our clients, their families, our payors, and the community at large to ensure they know the standards to which we hold ourselves.

Our code is intended to provide an overview and framework for the way we conduct our work. But no one document can encompass all the complexity of behavioral health treatment. Arapahoe House has a comprehensive set of policies and procedures intended to support and operationalize this code.

Client Experience

Our clients and their families are at the core of our mission. We strive to provide the most compassionate, effective and accessible behavioral health treatment possible. To this end, we will:

Respect the personal property of our clients and other stakeholders at all times.
Avoid conflicts of interest, both real and perceived.
Abide by the NAADAC, Association for Addiction Professionals, code of ethics for clinical staff.
Never accept or exchange gifts, money or other gratuities. Small tokens of appreciation (such as cookies, flowers, etc.) from clients may be shared among the staff and clients for all to enjoy.
Never discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender expression, marital status, veteran status, disability or national origin. At all times, we will strive to end and prevent discrimination in all forms in all of our work.
Never use our services, facilities or any Arapahoe House asset to conduct any type of personal fundraising.
Be courteous, service oriented, knowledgeable, and professional in our interactions with the community.
Provide only treatment that is evidence based or identified as a promising practice.
Ensure all of our services are trauma informed and offer trauma specific treatment when appropriate.

Meet Community Needs

We are committed to supporting the communities in which we provide services and recognize our role in ensuring the health of these communities. To this end we will:

Provide the highest quality customer service to community members seeking or inquiring about our services.
Communicate to community members and our stakeholders our outcomes.
When appropriate, seek the input of community members in the development of our services and improvement of our facilities.

Employee Experience

Our employees are at the heart of our work. A professional, dedicated, well-trained staff is the means by which we serve our clients and strive to fulfill our mission. To this end we will:

Never discriminate against any person seeking employment based on race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender expression, marital status, veteran status, disability or national origin. At all times, we will strive to end and prevent discrimination in all forms in all of our work.
Provide a safe, secure, drug and tobacco free workplace with sufficient resources to accomplish one’s job.
Commit to each other to treat our facilities and assets with care and respect.
Ensure staff have the training necessary to be effective and all staff credentials are obtained and maintained appropriately.
Train all staff at hire and annually thereafter in our code of ethics.
Ensure, by policy and practice, that no staff suffers retaliation or any negative consequences as a result of bringing fraud, waste, abuse or other wrongdoing to the attention of the organization’s leadership. Complaints will be investigated expeditiously and thoroughly.
Hold client confidentiality in the highest regard and comply at all times with local, state and federal confidentiality protections.

Effective Communication

Arapahoe House is committed to ensuring sharing information about its work in a way that is transparent, balanced, and focused at all times in supporting the people we serve. To this end, we will:

Ensure that all information disseminated to our clients, staff, the board, and stakeholders is clear, accurate, and timely.
Ensure that all communications are respectful of the experiences of our clients, staff, and stakeholders, and mindful of the diversity of the people we serve.
At all times ensure all communications comply with all applicable laws and regulations to protect the privacy of our staff and clients. Information will only be disclosed with expressed and written permission.
Correct inaccurate information as quickly as possible.

Strong Foundation

Arapahoe House has a commitment to its employees, clients, and stakeholders to conduct its business in an ethical and legal manner and with honestly and integrity. This ensures Arapahoe House has the solid, strong foundation from which to grow. To this end, we will:

Treat, at all times, our staff, clients, and all stakeholders with dignity and respect.
Know, understand, and comply with laws, regulations and codes of conduct governing the operations of our business and services.
Maintain documents that are accurate and accessible. Coding, billing and all financial transactions will be accurate and complete. At no time will documents be willfully altered or withheld if part of an official, lawful investigation or proceeding.
Ensure document destruction is done in compliance with Arapahoe House policies and procedures.
Witness no personal documents except for consents for treatment.
Protect to the highest degree the confidentiality of persons served and information that belongs to Arapahoe House including electronic and paper documents.
Use restricted funds for their intended purpose. All funds will be accounted for.
Review on a regular basis with the executive leadership and the board financial statements to ensure the financial health of the organization.
Ensure internal financial controls are in place for accurate accounting and compliance with all applicable laws.
Engage in an annual audit to be conducted by an independent accounting firm which will be conducted in accordance with generally accepted accounting practices and procedures.
Avoid conflicts of interest, both real and perceived. All staff, board members, volunteers, and interns will comply with the Arapahoe House conflict of interest policy.
Uphold and fulfill all contractual obligations and responsibilities.

Quality Focused

To ensure Arapahoe House is on track to fulfill its mission and core value of providing quality services, we continually strive to improve all aspects of our services. This occurs through formal quality assurance projects as well as through the actions of our staff. To this end, we will:

Support a culture where continuous quality improvement is valued and all staff have the opportunity to participate.
Support a culture where critical thought and inquiry is valued and all staff have the opportunity to participate.
Seek out ideas, feedback and counsel from a variety of sources, including our clients, when making difficult decisions which impact our services.
Whenever possible, contribute to the broader field of behavioral health.

Procedures to Deal with Allegations of Code Violations:

In alignment with the organization’s corporate compliance program, staff are encouraged to speak to their supervisors or program managers about violation of the code of ethics. Staff may also consult with representatives of the organization’s human resource department if the allegation involves a direct supervisor. Staff may also report allegations using the Arapahoe House Corporate Compliance hotline at 303-412-3940 or via email at [email protected], although email communications may not be anonymous. All investigations will be conducted by the appropriate executive manager and overseen by the president and CEO.