Featured Item

Standards for CareOne Service Providers

Credit Counseling Agencies (CCAs) who provide the CareOne brand of debt management services are industry leaders committed to providing you with superior service. To ensure you continue to receive service that is second to none, CCAs must now meet an expanded set of standards in order to offer the CareOne brand. These new standards, developed in collaboration with the CCAs who provide the CareOne service, are designed to ensure that every client is treated with compassion and understanding.

The expanded CareOne standards mean that credit counseling agencies who offer the CareOne service must:

• Provide patient, personalized financial counseling and education to every client who seeks assistance, including an individualized assessment of the client's financial situation in order to identify and help implement the best alternative to address his or her needs.
• Offer each client an opportunity to receive a personalized budget worksheet based on information the client chooses to provide to the credit counseling agency, together with budgeting tips, whether or not the client qualified for or chooses to enroll in a debt management plan.
• Devote at least 1,000 hours per year to community outreach activities that address consumer credit and money management.
• Ensure a sound educational offering and promote general consumer financial awareness, education, and literacy.
• Serve all clients who seek assistance, regardless of ability to pay, creditors owed, amount owed or enrollment in a debt management plan.
• Comply with the membership standards of a nationally recognized organization that are designed to promote quality and consistent delivery of credit counseling services.