A NOTE FROM OUR CEO
Brian Doyle
2019 was an incredible year for Family Services—filled with celebration of major agency milestones. We are excited for what 2020 will bring and are grateful to do this work alongside of our community of friends.
Many thanks to the 200 plus friends and supporters who joined us at our Report to the Community Luncheon at the Poughkeepsie Grand on February 6th. There was great energy in the room as we shared agency accomplishments of the past year and recognized partners in the community.
Our 2019 endeavors included formal consolidation with Hudson Valley Mental Health; creation of a new mission, vision and logo; strengthened focus on quality improvement; and numerous program successes. This has all been about better meeting the needs of over 19,000 of our Hudson Valley neighbors as we work to fulfill our vision of ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to lead their best lives.
We also took advantage of the room full of friends to celebrate the contributions of several of our important community partners: Nuvance Health, L’Quette Taylor, Maureen Murphy, and Amy Cole.
This annual luncheon also offered us an opportunity to share some of our plans, hopes and challenges we will pursue in the year ahead, particularly in the important efforts around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as well as working with partners in the community to meet the complex behavioral health and substance use needs in our community.
The afternoon was capped off with an informative, thoughtful, and enthusiastic keynote presentation from Dr. Anthony Salerno on Understanding Resiliency and how we can develop a more comprehensive trauma informed care approach in our community. In sharing his wisdom with our partners in business, government and nonprofits arenas, Dr. Salerno encouraged us to “focus on the STRONG, not on the WRONG” and to help our community focus on the numerous strengths each person “brings to the table”.
I invite you to learn more about how Family Services brings people together to find the support they need by reading our latest Annual Report. As always, we thank you, our community, for the many ways you support the wide array of work we do throughout Dutchess, Orange and Ulster Counties. We look forward to seeing you again soon!
By the Numbers
19,069
Children, adults and families were supported through our program areas in Dutchess, Ulster and Orange counties.
Behavioral Health Centers
Victim Services
Family Programs
Youth Services
Community Safety
Prevention
The Family Partnership Center
Celebrating Our Social Workers
By Joan Crawford
Chief Program Officer
Family Services is celebrating Social Work month in March, this year’s theme is “Generations Strong”. The Social Work Month campaign will inform the public, policy makers and legislators about the way nation’s more that 700,000 social workers from every generation are shaping our society for the better.
Reading through the materials for Social Work month had me thinking about the many people who choose a career working for non-profit agencies. Family Services employs more that 200 people throughout the Mid-Hudson Valley. These are social workers and other licensed mental health professionals, accountants, HR professionals, security personnel, advocates, educators, maintenance staff, and many others. Each and everyone are drawn to our mission. These are individuals who are committed to making things better for others.
Working in a non-profit brings a kind of pressure that is not always experienced in other types of work. Employees who work in non-profits live with the uncertainty of unstable funding, pilot projects, temporary positions and flat funding. Along with those pressures, we also ask our employees to be innovative, efficient, use best practices and have high levels of productivity, provide complex documentation to ensure compliance with multiple regulatory bodies, all while creating a warm and welcoming environment. Our employees do all this while being mindful that at the forefront of all that they do is an emphasis on client care. This is truly noble and aspirational work. In fact, the NYS Council for Community Behavioral Health recently highlighted challenges facing NYS nonprofits, including those challenges faced by the incredible human services workforce, in a recent publication. To see the fact sheet, please click here.
Family Services leadership team understands that often employees in non-profits are driven to go above and beyond because of the intrinsic rewards of knowing they are helping others and strengthening communities. We also understand how important it is for our staff to engage in self-care, utilize paid time off, and engage in activities developed through our wellness committee. We also understand how important it is to have input from all of our employees on how to improve our clients experience with Family Services as well as our employee’s experience. Family Services has multiple leaderships teams, a learning collaborative, a mentorship program as well as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee who advise and shape the work we do.
I am grateful to have spent the past 21 years working along side these extraordinary people at Family Services and look forward to many more.
Program Spotlights
The Family Partnership Center
Family Services is for collaboration and there is no better example of this than the amazing work that takes place at the Family Partnership Center! The FPC is home to 21 nonprofit and related organizations offering a variety of community services from healthcare and education to emergency services and recreation. At the FPC, the community comes together for conversation, recreation, arts and fun! The holiday season is a time when the FPC and its many partner agencies honor the treasured celebrations of our community. The FPC lobby was festively decorated to welcome its many visitors and the FPC was proud to once again serve as the location of the Three Kings Day Celebration organized by FPC partner Hudson River Health Care.
In December, the Family Partnership Center also received a wonderful gift – announcement that we have been awarded $490,000 in funding through the New York State Consolidated Funding Application process. This is a huge step toward the $750,000 or so needed for renovations to the FPC front entryway. We are excited to provide greater wheelchair and stroller access as well as a more welcoming entry to this critically important community building. We are excited to share more as this project unfolds.
Sexual Assault Response Team
The Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) is a multidisciplinary team working to provide trauma-informed, victim/survivor-centered response to sexual violence in Dutchess County. SART brings together victim advocacy, medical/forensic providers, law enforcement, criminal prosecution, probation, clinical sex offender treatment, and college campuses to ensure a consistent and coordinated response to sexual assault. SART not only reviews cases of sexual assault, but the staff trains local law enforcement and advocates across Dutchess County to increase knowledge of the importance of a victim centered response to sexual assault. Community awareness is a key component of SART as well and at the end of 2019, SART was excited to unveil a billboard that highlights Family Services 24/7 sexual assault and rape crisis hotline.
A Look Back
On Thursday, February 6th at The Poughkeepsie Grand, we celebrated with our 210 supporters, government officials and community members all of our accomplishments from 2019 and shared what lay ahead in 2020.
The energy was high as we heard an enthusiastic keynote from Dr. Anthony Salerno, Consultant with the National Council for Behavioral Health, on Understanding Resiliency and how we can develop a more comprehensive trauma informed care approach.
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Leadership Partner
Family Services’ 2019
Leadership Partner
https://nuvancehealth.org
