Impartiality & Conflict of Interest

The American Board of First Responder Behavioral Healthcare (FRBH) maintains formal safeguards designed to preserve standards integrity, organizational independence, accreditation impartiality, and public trust across all organizational activities.

s the independent national standards-setting organization and steward of Occupational Psychological Hazard Protection (OPHP), FRBH maintains governance, structural, impartiality, and conflict-of-interest safeguards that protect the integrity of the FRBH National Standard and preserve confidence in its implementation and voluntary independent accreditation.
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Institutional credibility requires that standards development, implementation guidance, general technical assistance, organizational learning, accreditation evaluation, and accreditation determinations remain free from undue influence and structurally insulated from administrative, advisory, financial, commercial, political, operational, or external interests.

These safeguards align with widely recognized principles governing standards development, accreditation, conformity assessment, organizational governance, independence, impartiality, transparency, and decision integrity.

‍Structural Safeguards

‍FRBH maintains formal structural separation between:

• Fiduciary Governance (Board of Directors)
• Standards Development & Stewardship
• National Technical Assistance Center (NTAC)
• Independent Accreditation Evaluation
• Accreditation Decision Authority (Accreditation Review Council)
• Executive Administration
• Advisory Functions

Each function operates under documented authorities, responsibilities, and accountability requirements designed to preserve independence, impartiality, and prevent inappropriate influence over accreditation activities.
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Implementation support provided through the FRBH National Technical Assistance Center (NTAC) remains institutionally separate from accreditation evaluation and accreditation decision-making activities.

‍Conflict-of-Interest

Individuals participating in governance, standards development, advisory activities, implementation activities, evaluation functions, or accreditation determinations are subject to documented conflict-of-interest disclosure requirements.

Disclosed interests are formally reviewed in accordance with adopted governance policies and procedures. Where an actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest exists, appropriate mitigation measures, including recusal, are implemented to preserve independence, impartiality, objectivity, and decision integrity.

‍Decision Integrity

‍Accreditation determinations are:

• Based on documented evidence and independent evaluation findings
• Rendered under established impartiality safeguards
• Supported by documented accreditation procedures
• Structurally separated from financial, operational, advisory, and implementation activities

Financial relationships, organizational affiliations, advisory roles, commercial interests, philanthropic contributions, or external relationships do not influence accreditation outcomes.
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Implementation support activities, including those provided through the FRBH National Technical Assistance Center (NTAC), do not influence accreditation evaluations or accreditation determinations.

What This Means
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• FRBH does not provide organization-specific accreditation consulting or services intended to influence accreditation outcomes
• FRBH does not guarantee accreditation outcomes
• Accreditation decisions are rendered independently of applicants, advisors, sponsors, donors, organizational leadership, or implementation activities
• Organizations are evaluated solely against the requirements of the FRBH National Standard using documented evidence and established accreditation procedures

‍Institutional Commitment

Impartiality is maintained through documented governance policies, committee charters, accreditation procedures, conflict-of-interest requirements, structural separation of authority, and oversight mechanisms designed to preserve standards integrity, organizational independence, and objective decision-making.

These safeguards support FRBH's stewardship of the National Standard and reinforce public confidence in the integrity of its standards-setting, implementation support, and independent accreditation activities

Core Principle
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The credibility of the FRBH National Standard depends upon institutional independence.

The integrity of the FRBH National Standard depends upon maintaining structural independence among standards development, implementation support, accreditation evaluation, accreditation review, and accreditation decision-making.
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Independent accreditation provides voluntary recognition of organizational conformity with the National Standard, preserving confidence in both the accreditation process and the stewardship responsibilities of FRBH.