Vol. 2, No. 1, January 1, 2004
This is the first edition of the executive director news for 2004. The executive director news is published once each month specifically for the employees of the Somerset Home.
Somerset Home 401(k) Retirement Program
As a supplement to our employer funded PSP all employees who work more than 1,000 hours each year are now eligible to have pre-tax dollars set aside for retirement savings in a 401(k) account. In addition, you will have an opportunity to use a Merrill Lynch Investment Counselor to assist you to individually direct your investments. A representative from the pension program will be out at the next agency wide staff meeting to introduce the plan in greater detail. Please contact Barbara Kreutzer for more information.
Did you know that your dental plan also has a eyeglass/vision screening component? Please look over your insurance materials for more details and contact Barbara Kreutzer for additional details.
The holiday parties for the kids were once again a very rewarding and gratifying experience and I want to thank everyone who helped shop, wrap and plan the activities. The feedback from the kids was overwhelmingly positive and the holiday celebrations were once again a great success.
I appreciated spending time with many of you at the holiday party and thank you all for coming out to Max's in Somerset after such a busy and hectic time working on the Shelter and Passages parties.
As many of you know the safety inspections that were conducted several month's ago will once again be repeated in the coming months. These "unannounced" safety inspections will occur at any time, day or night, weekday or weekend for both Passages and the Somerset Youth Shelter.
The New Jersey Department of Human Services is approaching the due date for submitting its plan for revamping the child welfare system to the federal district court and we anticipate many changes in DYFS as we know it. I look forward to the challenge of working together with the DYFS to implement improvements for the care of New Jersey's children and hope to communicate these new initiatives to you in the coming months.
It's that time again... Every four years we go through an accreditation process with the Council on Accreditation (COA). While we will not schedule our field visit until early 2005, we will be starting to prepare for that process throughout 2004. Stay tuned for more information on this exciting process.
Please don't forget to put your ideas in the suggestion box. These ideas are discussed every month at the continuous quality improvement meeting and many, many terrific ideas have been used to improve our programs efficiency, effectiveness and safety. We need your ideas and look forward to hearing from you.
Once again, I wish you a very Happy New Year. I look forward to accomplishing great things together in 2004!
Sincerely,