C ourier Vol 23 No 3 Spring 2014 www.concern4kids.org Spotlight on our Programs Spotlight is a series of articles that will feature different services and departments throughout CONCERN so those inside and outside of the organization will have a better understanding of the services and departments that comprise our mission. Quality Assurance Quality is an attribute we all appreciate and value. Maintaining quality requires attention and focused efforts. Quality assurance refers to those focused efforts which ensure a degree of quality. In general, quality assurance is the planned and systematic set of activities implemented to ensure that the required quality standards for a product or service are satisfied. Page 2 Focus on our Families Page 4 Staff Receives SPIN® Certification Page 5 So what is quality assurance in the human services sector and what is its role at CONCERN? Youthful Achievements In the human services field, the quality assurance activities include systematic monitoring and evaluation processes as well as a focus on the improvement of processes and services. This ensures that substandard services are not in any way provided to any clients. This constant and vigilant monitoring ensures that services provided are of the highest quality. Through teamwork, Quality assurance at CONCERN also involves the planning, implementing, and evaluating of a broad range of quality improvement/ assurance projects to ensure that our clients at all service sites, as well as our foster homes, are assured of quality services. The quality assurance efforts at CONCERN are led by Quality (continued on page 3) cultural awareness and quality personalized services, CONCERN promotes respect, self-worth and trust in individuals and fosters the growth of healthy, responsible and productive community members. Focus on our Families – The Coolbaughs “Focus on our Families” is a series of articles that will feature foster and adoptive parents and their experiences so those inside and outside of the organization will have a better understanding of the importance and the rewards of foster parenting and being an adoptive parent. Foster parenting may not be a genetic trait, but in the Coolbaugh family it may very well be. William (Bill) and Joanne Coolbaugh have been foster parents getting their inspiration from Bill’s parents who were also foster parents. Bill and Joanne have always enjoyed a very busy lifestyle. Joanne is an ordained minister and enjoys running a baking business out of her home. Bill is retired and enjoys running and gardening. Bill and Joanne have also always enjoyed a very busy home having raised 10 children (four biological and six adopted). For the past 34 years, including the past four with CONCERN’s Susquehanna Valley Regional Office, Bill and Joanne kept adding to their family by fostering more than 80 children providing safety, security, and love. Age, gender and circumstances have not mattered to Bill and Joanne as they have welcomed into their home both school-age children and teens having dealt with issues ranging from drug addicted infants to infants and toddlers with eye and pulmonary issues to children with terminal diagnoses. Jenna Morrone, Susquehanna Valley Caseworker, states, “The Coolbaughs have always gone above and beyond to assure that their biological, adopted and foster children have all of their needs met from the basic needs of unconditional love, unwavering support, and food, clothing, and shelter to mental health, behavioral, and medical needs.” Jenna continues her praises in stating, “They do a wonderful job working with birth parents by providing them with updates on how their child is doing to educating them on medical care to maintaining and supervising visits and they provide support to the parents after reunification as well as maintain contact with several of their former foster children.” William and Joanne Coolbaugh One example of the compassionate and quality care Bill and Joanne provide is the fostering of a one year old terminally ill child named “Joey” who is blind, deaf, and does not crawl. Over the past year, Bill and Joanne have attended numerous doctor appointments, heartwrenching emergency room visits and waits through medical and surgical procedures to make sure Joey pulled through. Even though Joey needs nearly round the clock medical attention, Bill and Joanne never neglect their two teen children who live at home or their community. They are active members of their church, stay involved with youth group, and on a bi-weekly basis they assist with cooking for and feeding over 200 homeless. Additionally, Bill and Joanne are always willing to provide support to other foster parents. The Foster Family of the Year Award goes to . . . Being selfless, unassuming people, accolades and recognition are the furthest things from Bill and Joanne’s minds. They were nonetheless nominated and honored as Foster Family of the Year by The Pennsylvania State Resource Family Association (PSRFA) at a ceremony at their annual conference held on October 18, 2103 at the Holiday Inn Harrisburg-Hershey in Grantville, Pennsylvania. Congratulations Bill and Joanne! You are not only special to CONCERN, but also to all of those lives you have touched over the years. • Courier • Spring 2014 • www.concern4kids.org • 2 Quality Assurance (continued from page 1) Assurance Administrator Ginny Ysa, MS, MSW. In this position Ms. Ysa provides quality assurance and quality improvement support to regional offices and residential sites assuring compliance with regulations. Ms. Ysa’s duties at CONCERN seem quite daunting, but she possesses the requisite skills and experience to manage her tasks quite admirably. Aside from the planning, implementing, and evaluating of a broad range of quality improvement/assurance projects, Ms. Ysa is also responsible for the review and negotiation of agency purchase of service contracts. project called the Quality Improvement Initiative. This initiative helped staff at CONCERN’s Treatment Unit for Boys learn and implement a continuous quality improvement process. Another quality improvement initiative has been the Corporate Support of Sites project. This is basically a customer service survey where our different sites rate the support provided by CONCERN’s administrative office. This project has been a catalyst for many improvements at CONCERN. CONCERN’s quality assurance efforts are yet another example of how we continue to fulfill our pledge to provide hope, opportunity and change to those in need by providing our services in an efficient and quality manner. During her early tenure at CONCERN, Ms. Ysa’s projects included the development of data management systems to monitor and ensure compliance. In recent years, Ms. Ysa and the Director of Residential Services Enclosed is my gift to CONCERN collaborated with National Center for in the amount of: $ _________________________________ Juvenile Justice (NCJJ) on a state-wide ! Name_____________________________________________________ Upcoming Event April 17 - CONCERN Charity Bingo will be held at the Fleetwood Grange beginning at 6:30 PM and will feature trendy purses, totes, and accessories from Thirty-One and also items from Coach. Admission of $20 includes twenty games of bingo, a hot dog, beverage, and door prize. Contact Jane Zettlemoyer at 610-944-0445 for tickets. For more information on this event or any other CONCERN event, visit the website at: www.concern4kids.org Address___________________________________________________ City_________________________ State________ Zip______________ e-mail____________________________________________________ Please charge to my credit card: q MasterCard q VISA _________________________________________________________ Cardholder signature (required) ________________________________________________ Card number Exp. date (month/year) Visit www.concern4kids.org for secure online donations. Contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Please mail coupon to: CONCERN • Development Department One West Main Street • Fleetwood, PA 19522 The official registration and financial information of CONCERN - Professional Services for Children, Youth, and Families may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll free, within Pennsylvania, (800) 732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement. A copy of the current financial statement of CONCERN – Professional Services for Children, Youth, and Families is available by writing One West Main Street, Fleetwood, PA 19522 or by calling (610) 944-0445. Documents and information submitted under the Maryland Solicitations Act are also available, for the cost of postage and copies, from the Maryland Secretary of State, State House, Annapolis, MD 21401, (410) 974-5534. • Courier • Spring 2014 • www.concern4kids.org • 3 Staff Receives SPIN® Certification Over the past 18 months, Becky Keller, Supervisor, and Christine Kopanski, Caseworker, from CONCERN’s Greater Berks office, worked diligently to meet the requirements for SPIN® Certification as part of the Mother/Baby Foster Care program. Under the guidance and tutelage of Teeda Jagne, Maryland Regional Office assistant administrator and certified SPIN® trainer, Becky and Christine routinely travelled to Maryland for training toward certification. (left to right) Teeda Jagne, Christine Kopanski, Becky Keller, and Jane Nestel-Patt In addition to the 18 months of training, Becky and Christine also were required to present a detailed presentation to their colleagues using actual cases they were assigned. On December 6, 2013, Becky and Christine were rewarded for their efforts when Jane Nestel-Patt, President and CEO of SPIN® USA presented their certification as Certified Video Home Technicians. SPIN®, which is a Dutch acronym, translates as the Association for the Promotion of Intensive Home Based Intervention. SPIN® is an internationally validated strength-based training approach focusing on what an individual is already doing that is successful. Direct care staff and parents (yes, fathers too) learn to use direct videotaped observation, detailed analysis of interaction and strengths-based feedback and coaching to strengthen families. SPIN® Video Home Training focuses on supporting parents in developing the qualities of responsive nurturing of their children that will support optimal learning and healthy social, emotional and cognitive development. The Mother/Baby Program is designed to provide support to the adolescent or expectant mother in her efforts to develop a good parent-child relationship and become a productive citizen. The program focuses on four areas of competency: parenting skills, child development, safe sexual practices and independent living skills with CONCERN determining outcomes by the use of pre- and post-competency testing. Thank You! Boy Scout Troop #505 from Earl Township Boyertown, under the leadership of Tim Evans, donated 22 bicycles to the children in CONCERN’s care. Not everyone was unhappy with the snow this season. The residents at CONCERN Treatment Unit for Boys in Coatesville had fun making snow angels. • Courier • Spring 2014 • www.concern4kids.org • 4 Youthful Achievements CONCERN congratulates the many children in care who are active in their schools and communities and achieve personal and public goals. The following is just a small representation of the achievements of our youth over the past several months: Derika B., 19, completed the requirements to obtain her Certified Nursing Assistant certification from Nurse One, Inc. and is preparing to take her state board examination. Kendra M., 10, wowed the audience when she sang a solo performance with her church choir. She is an active member in Sunday school. Natalia H., 2 and Secia H., 1, have made great strides in their development thanks to their foster mom digging up any and all services to get them to be the best that they can possibly be. Brayden P., 6, is a happy and energetic little boy. He attends Head Start and has made some new friends. He is signed up for soccer and is so excited to start playing. Sofia R., 7, and Salena S., 10, are happy and adorable little girls who are taking dance classes. They danced with their class at the Philadelphia 76ers game when they retired Allen Iverson’s jersey. Both girls are looking forward to being adopted by their foster family soon. Danielle C., 14, maintains excellent grades in school and has resumed contact with her younger siblings. Norman W., 17, has been accepted to West Chester University and plans to begin his studies in the Fall 2014 semester. Christina B., 17, made the distinguished honor roll at school and was accepted to Bloomsburg University. She is preparing for track season and is the co-assistant editor for her school newspaper. Christina is also excited about her trip to France this summer with her school. Thoughts from the Executive Director CONCERN’s mission statement reads “Through teamwork, cultural awareness and quality personalized services, CONCERN promotes Paul D. Rieger, MSW respect, self-worth and trust in individuals and fosters the growth of healthy, responsible and productive community members.” This singular statement acknowledges our commitment to all those that we will serve in the hopes of improving their lives. Our mission truly reflects our core values and the manner in which we perceive ourselves and our clients. The information contained in this newsletter is not only a reflection of our mission statement, but also how we use it as a guiding principle each day. With an emphasis on quality assurance, we make sure that maintaining quality is not just good business, but also the best way to serve our clients. Our “Focus on our Families” segment shows that having dedicated and caring foster parents as well as staff receiving additional credentials and certifications will assuredly bring about the healthy, responsible and productive community members we profess. Of course, there are the “Youthful Achievements.” Our mission could not be complete without singling out our clients for their personal accomplishments. It is these achievements that make all of jobs worthwhile and the reason we come to work each day. Finally, there are you, our loyal friends and donors. You may not realize it, but you are very much a part of our mission. Your generosity all year-long also helps to foster the growth of healthy, responsible and productive community members. Each time you make a donation or attend an event, you are, in essence, helping us fulfill our mission and for this we are truly grateful. • Courier • Spring 2014 • www.concern4kids.org • 5 Leadership Statement Leadership ... is a participative process, in which everyone is a stakeholder and has the opportunity, as well as the responsibility, to contribute to the success of the organization. The Courier is published by CONCERN Professional Services for Children, Youth, and Families Your comments and suggestions are always welcome by mail, phone, fax or e-mail addressed to the Development Department at our Corporate Office: One West Main Street • Fleetwood, PA 19522 • (610) 944-0445 • FAX (610) 944-8834 • [email protected] NONPROFIT ORG. One West Main Street Fleetwood PA 19522 www.concern4kids.org U.S. POSTAGE PAID KUTZTOWN, PA PERMIT NO. 49 Board of Directors Raymond J. Albert G. Thompson Bell, III William C. Cooperman Glenn J. Hillegass Roger N. Longenecker Stefanie E. Nester Paula Plageman Sandra L. Weidner Nancy W. Weikert CONCERN Service Sites: Foster Care/Adoption Services Greater Berks Regional Office Fleetwood • (610) 944-0445 Lehigh Valley Regional Office Bethlehem • (610) 691-8401 Northeast Regional Office Eynon • (570) 876-3800 Southeast Regional Office Willow Grove • (215) 654-1963 Susquehanna Valley Regional Office Lewisburg • (570) 523-1297 Wellsboro • (570) 724-7142 Maryland Regional Office Lanham • (301) 429-2370 Counseling Services Eastern Region Bethlehem • (610)691-8401 Fleetwood • (610) 944-0445 Lewisburg • (570) 522-0990 Wyomissing • (610) 371-8035 North Central Region Laporte • (866) 946-5101 Mansfield • (570) 662-7600 Towanda • (570) 268-3073 Wellsboro • (570) 724-7142 Residential Services Treatment Units for Boys Coatesville Campus • (610) 384-8733 Lehighton Campus • (570) 386-2990 Paul D. Rieger, MSW, Executive Director www.concern4kids.org Check Out CONCERN’s New Look After many months of planning, designing and giving much thought to content and placement, CONCERN officially launched our new website on March 15, 2014. The website address will remain the same, www. concern4kids.org, but it has been greatly enhanced. This enhanced website will include familiar links to information about CONCERN, our various services, locations of these services, donations, news, and how to contact us. In addition, there are enhanced links to foster and adoptive parent training, and a much broader section on career opportunities. Overall, this information is now more detailed, easier to navigate, and is more eye-catching in its design. The qualities that make for a well designed website are accessibility, identity, navigation, and content and we feel we have successfully met all of these criteria, so please check out www.concern4kids.org!