Vol. 2, No. 4, January 11, 2004
The executive director news is published specifically for the employees of the Somerset Home. This issue and past issues of this newsletter are available on our web site at http://www.somersethome.org/main/pages/employee_newsletter.htm.
401 (k) Pension Program
The stock market is rebounding and now is the time to start thinking about investing a part of your income (pre-tax) into a retirement fund.
On February 11, 2004, we will hold our joint staff meeting at the Somerset Youth Shelter at 5:00 P.M. At that meeting there will be several representatives to help you understand and sign up for the 401(k) pension plan. A representative from Merrill Lynch will explain investment funds and the procedure to get in touch with him, and a representative from Paychex, our payroll company will help you understand the online investment access and help you fill out the forms for your election of deductions.
Once you are enrolled you can move funds from one investment vehicle to another, redirect future contributions and reallocate existing contributions. You can also consult with the Merrill Lynch account executive regarding rolling over funds from a previous retirement program.
Please also use this time to address any questions you may have to our Paychex representative regarding 125 programs including FSA and Dependent Care.
We will also have a representative from PNC bank who will be able to have you fill out paperwork for getting a cash bonus for establishing a new account with direct deposit. Remember, March 1st our payroll will be totally direct deposit.
Gary Kreutzer and Ellen Horn are manning the shop with regard to administrative activities including finance, insurance, contracts and payroll. If you have any questions about any of these issues please contact Ellen or Gary directly.
DYFS Contract
Our DYFS contract for 2004 was recently approved and it represents our biggest contract for services for 2004, at nearly $1.6 million. No sooner had the contract been approved than they offered us the opportunity to provide additional services in the way of "day care" for youth who are "displaced" and in need of a place to wait while arrangements are made for a placement. We have just begun to explore the contractual issues, so stay tuned for more on this initiative.
County of Somerset
Our Somerset County contract for Shelter care was increased slightly from $200,000 to $205,000 for 2004 and we are excited to have this grant settled into place as we begin to finalize the numbers for our 2004 budget.
United States - Health and Human Services - Transitional Living Program Contract
Our federal transitional living grant is up for five year renewal this year and we are hoping to hear this week if we were successful at a national competition for a $1,000,000 grant award. This funding will help to fund the operations budget of 'My Place', an expansion of the Passages Transitional Living program.
On February 17, 2004 there will be a DYFS reform plan presented to the federal district court which will represent more than $100 million of new funding initiatives the New Jersey child welfare system. This is the single biggest change to the New Jersey Child Welfare system since The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act originally enacted 1974 (P.L. 93-247).
We expect that after much debate and deliberation that additional resources will be made available to provide expanded services to all youth in DYFS care. We have a thirty year history of partnership with DYFS and know that they will continue to reach out to us to help them implement some of the new elements of this reform. Stay tuned for exciting new program development activities.
Many of you already know that this past year we have increased our fund development activities to help expand and enrich the Transitional Learning Center (TLC) educational program at the Somerset Youth Shelter. We are proud to announce the award of a $10,000 grant from the Robert McCormick Foundation and WPIX (WB Channel 11) to support our educational program.
As always, thank you for your continued hard work on behalf of our youth.
Sincerely,