Date
December 2023
Overview
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), in partnership with the Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCOE) at RTI International and CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, set out to re-examine common obstacles and barriers that impede an office from achieving accreditation and to develop a resource guide that would help offices overcome accreditation challenges. To prepare this guide, medical examiner/coroner (MEC) offices serving various geographic regions and diverse population sizes, and representatives from IACME and NAME, were interviewed in December 2022. The interviews were focused on gathering information about the most common challenges to accreditation and collecting helpful tips and solutions to overcome the challenges. Additionally, several MEC offices were contacted about providing additional resources and information to include in this guide.
This guide provides an overview of the MEC accreditation programs and processes, including the benefits of accreditation, and offers helpful resources for MEC offices seeking accreditation. The guide is intended for use by MEC professionals, as well as policymakers, legislators, members of the public, and other stakeholders interested in promoting MDI excellence.
Funding for this Forensic Technology Center of Excellence report was provided by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Contact us at ForensicCOE@rti.org with any questions and subscribe to our newsletter for notifications.
