COMPASS Framework · Goliath Advocacy Academy
Code of Professional Practice
The standard every COMPASS-certified practitioner has publicly committed to uphold.
Preamble
This Code exists because the participants who receive COMPASS-based support deserve practitioners who have made a public commitment to a specific standard of care.
It is not a compliance document. It is not a box to check on the way to a certificate. It is a declaration — of what we believe about people, about practice, and about what genuine support requires of the people who provide it.
By signing this Code you are not completing a requirement. You are making a promise. To every participant who will trust you with their story. To every practitioner who will look to you for example. To the movement you are joining and the participants — real people, with real feelings, real strengths, and real lives — whose wellbeing that movement exists to serve.
Hold this seriously. Return to it often. Let it challenge you when your practice drifts. Let it anchor you when the institutional pressure to do less pushes against the standard you have committed to uphold.
Section 1 — What We Believe
About participants
Every person who receives COMPASS-based support is a whole person — not a client, not a case, not a set of deficits to be managed. They come with strengths, histories, preferences, and wisdom that belong to them. Their voice is not one input among many; it is primary data. Their self-determination is not a program feature; it is a right. Their dignity is not contingent on compliance, productivity, or meeting organizational timelines. We see them fully, or we are not practicing COMPASS.
Participants are to be included in decisions about their own lives at every stage of the process. Their goals, articulated in their own words, shape the direction of the work. Their strengths are recognized, named, and actively celebrated — not minimized, redirected, or treated as pleasant footnotes to a deficit-oriented record. Every interaction carries the weight of the trust they extend to us. We do not take that trust lightly.
About practice
Anti-CCI is not a training we completed. It is a way of being in the room, in the relationship, in the organization. It requires active, sustained attention — to our language, to our assumptions, to the structural pressures that push against person-centered care. Presence over procedure. The person in front of us matters more than the form we are filling out.
We hold ourselves to a high standard — not because we are afraid of consequences, but because the people we serve deserve it. Honesty, integrity, transparency, and accountability are not aspirational values. They are minimum standards. Lived experience is recognized as expertise. The knowledge that participants carry about their own lives is wisdom, and we receive it as such. We attend to our own wellbeing because sustainable practice requires it.
About the system
We operate within a system that has caused profound harm — through institutionalization, through coercion, through practices that denied people autonomy and dignity under the guise of care. We are committed to being persistently, courageously different. We hold that commitment even when — especially when — the institutional environment pushes back. We do not normalize harm because it is normalized elsewhere. We do not accept CCI because it is convenient. We hold the line.
Section 2 — What We Promise
To every participant
I will see you as a whole person — your strengths, your wisdom, and your full humanity.
I will listen to you as the primary expert on your own life.
I will include you meaningfully in decisions that affect you.
I will protect your privacy and handle your information with care.
I will never use your trust as leverage or your vulnerability as an opportunity.
I will speak about you — to colleagues, in records, in meetings — as I would speak to your face.
I will hold myself accountable when I fall short.
To my practice
I will maintain the COMPASS Framework fidelity required of my certification level.
I will engage in regular reflective practice to evaluate and improve my work.
I will seek supervision, mentorship, and consultation when I need it.
I will stay current with developments in the COMPASS Framework and Anti-CCI practice.
I will not represent myself as certified at a level I have not earned.
I will not practice COMPASS under conditions that prevent me from meeting its standards.
To the framework
I will uphold the integrity of the COMPASS name in all contexts where I use it.
I will not adapt or modify the framework in ways that undermine its foundations without transparent disclosure.
I will credit Goliath Advocacy and the COMPASS Framework in materials and presentations.
I will report concerns about framework misrepresentation to Goliath Advocacy.
To the community
I will support other COMPASS practitioners — especially those newer than me.
I will contribute to the growth of the COMPASS community of practice.
I will share what I learn in ways that strengthen our collective capacity.
I will address concerns about a colleague's practice directly before escalating.
I will not use COMPASS community relationships for personal advantage.
Section 3 — Specific Violations
The following constitute specific violations of this Code. This list is illustrative, not exhaustive. Any behavior that contradicts the commitments made in Section 2 may be treated as a violation.
Section 4 — Accountability
When a concern is raised about a practitioner's Code compliance, a formal review process follows. A formal concern may be submitted to Goliath Advocacy by any participant, colleague, employer, or community member. Concerns submitted in bad faith, for competitive purposes, or without substantive basis are themselves a Code violation.
Goliath Advocacy's accountability process follows these principles: investigation before judgment, proportionality in response, respect for all parties, and transparency about outcomes.
Four possible outcomes
The certified practitioner has 30 days from receiving a formal finding to submit an appeal. Appeals are reviewed by a panel that did not participate in the original finding.
When a certification is revoked, the practitioner's name is removed from the public registry and their digital credential is invalidated. This information is available to any person who requests it. Revocation for cause is permanent unless a formal reinstatement process is completed.
Certification Levels and Addenda
COMPASS Certified Practitioner
Signs: Signs the foundational Code at application
COMPASS Certified Specialist
Signs: Signs the foundational Code + CCS Addendum
COMPASS Certified Trainer
Signs: Signs the foundational Code + CCS Addendum + CCT Charter at commissioning
CCS Addendum
Signed in addition to the foundational Code by all CCS and CCT practitioners.
I will model advanced Anti-CCI practice for practitioners at all levels.
I will provide supervision and mentorship that strengthens rather than diminishes the standards of this Code.
I will apply COMPASS principles at the organizational and systems level with the same fidelity I bring to individual practice.
I will use my specialist designation to advocate for COMPASS-aligned environments, policies, and funding.
I will disclose any organizational conflicts that affect my ability to uphold this Code at a systems level.
I will contribute to the development of COMPASS practice knowledge through documentation, teaching, or community contribution.
I will acknowledge the limits of my specialist expertise and refer to CCT trainers for matters beyond my scope.
COMPASS Code of Professional Practice · Version 1.0 · Effective 2026
Goliath Advocacy Academy · A Goliath Advocacy Initiative