Winter 2011

Seven Hills Family Services Opens New Family Support Centers

Seven Hills Family Services (SHFS) has recently opened its first Family Support Centers (FSC) in Central Massachusetts. The Centers are located at 1460 John Fitch Highway in Fitchburg, 799 West Boylston Street in Worcester, and 128 Main Street in Sturbridge.

The Family Support Centers are open to individuals with disabilities and their families who are seeking information and resources tailored to their specific needs. With an emphasis on cultural competency, families are provided with a variety of options that enable them to network with other families, have real-time access to pertinent information, explore avenues to community inclusion, and receive support while navigating the social service system.

When an individual or family member initially contacts the Family Support Center, the FSC will respond with a collaborative assessment of specific needs and a planned course of action. This individual/family action plan is then supported by an information specialist who will work one-on-one with the individual/family to ensure that they are receiving information, training and support on a timely basis and to their complete satisfaction.

Various services will be provided by the FSC through a number of Family Support Specialists, the web site, Town Hall Meetings, and video conferencing, and include: Information & Referral (I&R) including research and connections to the appropriate Federal, State and local supports; a parent newsletter; access to a Lending Library; and “Meet and Greet” nights with other agencies. Family Trainings are multilingual and held monthly at area training sites, the Seven Hills Foundation’s Corporate College in Worcester, and through teleconference. Child care is provided. Parent networking includes a weekly drop-in parenting group, a family blog, and listserve in English and Spanish. The listserve delivers announcements regarding events and provides real-time connection to share successful strategies. For people interested in accessing the services provided by the Family Support Center, they can call 888.474.4557 (888.47HILLS). Staffing is in place 24/7 to respond to requests. Family Support Specialists will respond within 24 hours.

In response to substantial budget cuts and loss of revenue in the health and human services sector, Dr. David Jordan, President and CEO of the Seven Hills Foundation, recently announced a series of moves to create a new administrative organizational structure. Dr. Jordan’s announcement represents the first major moves of this kind in over 10 years, and is the result of significant and thorough internal reviews. “With these changes,” commented Dr. Jordan, “Seven Hills Foundation and its Clinical Affiliates will be better positioned to favorably address the needs of those we support in this uncertain economic environment.”

Critical to this restructuring was the consolidation of a top senior leadership position. As a result, the position of Seven Hills Family Services’ Vice President has been eliminated. Dr. Katharine Cleary, Vice President of Seven Hills Clinical Associates and Children’s Aid & Family Service, has assumed the oversight of Seven Hills Family Services.

Additional efforts to streamline the clinical functions within the organization included the appointment of Kathleen Reville as Senior Vice President/Chief Program Officer. Prior to this promotion, Mrs. Reville served as the organization’s Vice President of Advancement. To emphasize the importance of the new appointments, Dr. Jordan stated, “In order to continue to serve those in our care effectively and efficiently, periodic change is necessary to meet the shifting program demands.”

“Given the clinical demands of the individuals we support and the economic realities of the times in which we live, the changes we have made will reassure our continued health and sustainability as an organization and an employer of nearly 3,500 support and professional staff,” Dr. Jordan concluded.

For the past decade, several nationally accredited organizations have independently recognized Seven Hills Foundation as an efficient and successful organization. Administrative overhead has been limited to only 5.9% of its current operating budget.

Seven Hills Behavioral Health (SHBH), an Affiliate of Seven Hills Foundation, recently opened a new Family Center (FC) located at 64 Industrial Park Road-Rear in Plymouth, MA.

Through the new Family Center, Seven Hills Behavioral Health has extended its existing services to the Plymouth area and a much-needed on-site supervised visitation component has been included. In addition, the Family Center provides parent aide and education, family meetings, and a youth mentoring program. The services are aimed at improving parenting skills, encouraging open communication among family members and maintaining healthy parent-child relationships. Parent-child bonds become increasingly unstable and fragile due to difficult situations involving family violence, child abuse, substance abuse, separation, divorce, or court proceedings. The Family Center offers a healthy avenue for families while sheltering children from the violence and trauma often associated with parental separation. The Center will work to ensure that children have a positive relationship with both custodial and non-custodial adults in their lives. The culturally sensitive staff is trained to support a diverse population in a safe, nurturing and supportive environment.

Features of the Center include five visitation rooms equipped with games; furniture and televisions; a fully operational kitchen and dining area; handicapped-accessible bathrooms; shower and laundry facilities; a large training/meeting room; computer lab; outdoor playground; substantial parking; and separate entrances, exits and waiting areas.

The Family Center looks forward to hosting an Open House in the very near future.

CARF International has announced that both Seven Hills Foundation and its Affiliate, Seven Hills Family Services, have received a three-year accreditation for the Affiliate’s Community Employment, Community Integration, and Host Family programs. This is the highest level of accreditation that can be awarded to an organization, and symbolizes Seven Hills’ exemplary conformance to the CARF standards.

Organizations receiving a Three-Year Accreditation have undergone a rigorous peer review process and have demonstrated to a team of independent surveyors that its programs and services are of the highest quality, measurable, and accountable. In his letter to Seven Hills Foundation, Dr. Brian J. Boon, CARF President and CEO, stated, “The CARF surveyors made no recommendations, which signifies that there were not any areas of non-conformance to the standards. This is an extraordinary accomplishment, as only 3% of CARF surveys worldwide result in no recommendations.”

“This is a unique honor to the dedicated staff at these particular programs, and it is a testament to the culture of service we work hard on each day to foster,” commented Dr. David A. Jordan, President and CEO of Seven Hills Foundation.

Seven Hills Family Services offers programs throughout Worcester County, which include Adult Day Health; Day Habilitation; CareerSource; Shared Living; Respite Care; Sports, Recreation & Leisure; and Adult Family Care. The Affiliate also operates three Family Support Centers in Worcester, Fitchburg and Sturbridge.

CARF is an independent, nonprofit accrediting body whose mission is to promote the quality, value, and optimal outcomes of services through a consultative accreditation process that centers on enhancing the lives of the persons served. Founded in 1966 as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and now known as CARF, the accrediting body establishes consumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their programs and services.

The Children’s Aid and Family Service’s Child Enrichment Center recently received notification of national accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC – www.naeyc.org) – the nation’s leading organization of early childhood professionals. Children’s Aid and Family Service (CAFS), an Affiliate of Seven Hills Foundation, has been serving North Central Massachusetts since 1876.

“We’re proud to have earned the mark of quality from NAEYC, and to be recognized for our commitment to reaching the highest professional standards,” said Dr. Kate Cleary, Vice President of CAFS. “NAEYC Accreditation lets families in our community know that children in our program are getting the best care and early learning experiences possible.”

The Child Enrichment Center has 30 years’ experience providing licensed, group-based child care to area families. Located in Fitchburg, the center is open from 6:30 am to 5:30 pm on a year-round basis.

To earn NAEYC Accreditation, the Child Enrichment Center went through an extensive self-study process, measuring the program and its services against the ten NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and more than 400 related Accreditation Criteria. The program received NAEYC Accreditation after an on-site visit by NAEYC Assessors to ensure that the program meets each of the ten program standards. NAEYC-accredited programs are also subject to unannounced visits during their accreditation. NAEYC Accreditations last for five years.

In the 25 years since NAEYC Accreditation was established, it has become a widely recognized sign of high quality, early childhood education. More than 7,000 programs are currently accredited by NAEYC–approximately eight percent of all preschools and other early childhood programs. “The NAEYC Accreditation system raises the bar for child care centers and other early childhood programs,” said Jerlean E. Daniel, PhD, executive director of NAEYC. “Having earned NAEYC Accreditation is a sign that CAFS’ Child Enrichment Center is a leader in a national effort to invest in high quality early childhood education.”

The NAEYC Accreditation system has set voluntary professional standards for programs for young children since 1985. In September 2006, the Association revised program standards and criteria to introduce a new level of quality, accountability, and service for parents and children in child care programs. The new standards today reflect the latest research and best practices in early childhood education and development. NAEYC is committed to utilizing the newest studies and analysis on positive child outcomes to ensure young children continue receiving the highest quality care and education possible.

For more information about NAEYC Accreditation, visit www.naeyc.org/academy.

This newsletter represents our effort to give Massachusetts state legislators a better understanding of who we are and what we do. The intention of this newsletter is to update you on some of our recent accomplishments and to provide some assurance that we are being good stewards of the financial resources that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has directed to us for the operation of our clinical programs. Enjoy and spread the e-mail to anybody you believe that can benefit from our services. Thank you!

From all of us at Seven Hills Foundation, best wishes for a Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Bill Stock

Vice President for Government and Community Relations

Seven Hills Foundation