(Alliance E-News Service) —
The Alliance's Agency of the Year awards recognize Alliance member agencies for their accomplishments across a full spectrum of leadership and management areas, including board participation and support; impact of advocacy efforts on local, state, or national levels; and innovative programs.
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From left to right: Jeremy Kohomban, president and CEO, The Children’s Village; Debbie Reed, president and CEO, Chaddock; and Mary Jo Monahan, president and CEO, Family Service Centers accept Agency of the Year plaques at the Alliance National Conference. Alliance President and CEO Peter Goldberg pictured at far right.
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The Children’s Village
The Children’s Village won the Agency of the Year award in the $15 million and over personnel budget category. A cutting-edge organization, The Children’s Village utilizes both advocacy and numerous innovations to provide some of the most respected services and programs to children and families in the New York City area. It was even one of the largest contingents among a coalition of child care organizations that rallied at New York’s City Hall to prevent more than $100 million in cuts for preventive and foster care services.
The Children’s Village Board of Trustees sets the bar high for performance. While looking to develop a cost-effective planned giving program, the board created an innovative partnership, called the Children’s Support Foundation, with two other leading child care agencies. The Children’s Support Foundation was set up as a separate nonprofit to market planned giving vehicles for each of the three agencies.
The trustees also reached their goal of cultivating donor relationships with major corporations to tap into the enormous planned giving potential for The Children’s Village. After having virtually no corporate sponsors 10 years ago, today the trustees have established close working relationships with several major companies.
 The Children’s Village has faced the universal problem of high turnover among social service staff through a multipronged strategy aimed at recruitment, retention, and developing high-performing individuals. This strategy revolves around a commitment to agency values and mission, intensive screening, professional development, and creation of an inclusive workplace. It has resulted in a turnover rate of less than 30 percent.
While piloting the Family Team Conferencing model that is designed to give families more control in the child welfare and foster care systems, The Children’s Village launched its own unique aspect of the program, the Mobile Family Team Conferencing Program.
Using a grant from the Lone Pine Foundation, the agency acquired a 40-foot van that has been converted into a family-friendly meeting center. The mobile unit allows The Children’s Village clinical team to travel to families wherever they are located and at anytime they are available. It also facilitates attendance by other key stakeholders who can make a positive contribution to the planning process and form supports around the family. Ultimately, it enables the organization to involve families more directly in the decision making process and help them achieve success in the long-term.
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Chaddock
Chaddock won the Agency of the Year award in the $6-15 million personnel budget category. By instituting a high level of programming, board initiatives, staff development activities, and advocacy campaigns, Chaddock continues to successfully fulfill its commitment to offer hope and healing to children and families by providing innovative services in creative settings.
Chaddock’s wide range of niche programming for children and families struggling with developmental trauma and attachment issues continues to garner much-deserved accolades. Chaddock was awarded a multiyear $1.6 million federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration as part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. The award will allow Chaddock to serve more youth, provide training, and conduct primary research on four evidence-based treatment techniques.
In fact, Chaddock’s knowledge and success with incorporating trauma-based treatment into residential and orphanage settings has led to an increased number of requests from Great Britain, South Korea, and other countries for specialized training and consultation through The Knowledge Center at Chaddock.
Planning for construction of a new residential cottage solidified an already strong relationship between Chaddock and its board of directors. Board members partnered with staff throughout the process, making corporate, foundation, and political connections, while seeking funding to underwrite the cost of the cottage. Integral to the process was the implementation of a new facilities committee of the board.
Chaddock staff were directly involved in the development of a new strategic framework for the organization. They were invited to participate in a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis to identify strengths, areas for growth, and trends. Based on the outcomes of the SWOT analysis, focus groups were held to learn more about specific staff responses.
Faced with the prospect of drastic state budget cuts that would directly affect service provision, Chaddock used its staff, board members, and foster parents to advocate along with other child-serving organizations in the state for retention of funds. Contacting their elected officials with phone calls, letters, e-mails, and faxes, as well as participating in rallies and media events, resulted in a reversal of the proposed cuts.
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Family Service Centers
Family Service Centers won the Agency of the Year award in the $6 million or below personnel budget category. The organization, backed by an active board of directors, displays forward-thinking advocacy activities, courageous strategic planning, and innovative programming.
The Family Service Centers Board of Directors, while continuing to take the lead in all aspects of organizational efforts, including fundraising, event planning, and fiscal analysis, also completed new projects with significant importance to the organization, such as the adoption of the 2008-2011 Strategic Positioning Plan. The plan will assist the organization in achieving fiscal sustainability, while also fulfilling its promise to the community as described in the revised mission statement.
Recognizing the changing needs of nonprofit outreach and social/legislative advocacy to Family Service Centers’ long-term viability and sustainability, the board took the bold step to restructure its committees and add the Social Policy and Advocacy (SPA) Committee to its roster.
One of the first major accomplishments of this committee was planning a multifaceted board training retreat attended by more than 50 nonprofit executives and board members. At the event, local and national speakers encouraged attendees to harness the political potential of all individuals committed to an organization’s mission through civic engagement.
When funding for Florida’s Rape Crisis Trust Fund was at risk of being cut out of the Florida state budget, the SPA Committee worked with Family Service Centers’ senior management, partners, and supporters to lead a campaign to keep the trust fund intact. They contacted both lawmakers and media, which proved successful when the funding was saved, allowing Family Service Centers to remain Pinellas County’s only certified center for victims of sexual assault.
By merging a Family Service Centers program, Ways to Work, with a highly-respected community agency, Partners in Self-Sufficiency, both programs were further enhanced and strengthened. Bringing the two together under the collective mission of promoting economic self-sufficiency through case management and education allowed Family Service Centers to increase the combined program’s impact on children and families, as well as gain significant funding to continue efforts.  |
