Vol. 2, No. 5, February 25, 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
Remember, today is the deadline for filing your 401 (k) application and you need to fill out the form and submit it, even if you are not going to participate. I am very encouraged to see so many of you sign up and please feel free to sign up online if you want to expedite the process, just go to https://benefits.paychex.com/.
Health Insurance Update
On February 25, 2004, we will hold our joint staff meeting at the Somerset Youth Shelter at 5:00 P.M. At this meeting there will be a representative of Wachovia Insurance Services to discuss the transition from Oxford to Horizon Health Insurance. As of April 1, 2004 we will no longer be using Oxford for our health insurance and it is important that you fill out the application for Horizon as soon as possible.
There are three plans to chose from and it is very important to make sure you understand the differences and make the correct selection for your health care needs. If you should have further questions after the meeting please do not hesitate to contact Ellen Horn or Gary Kreutzer. And remember, any fees you may pay for the costs associated to health insurance are eligible to be deducted from your paycheck on a pretax basis through a provision known as the "premium only plan".
Direct Deposit
The March 1, 2004 deadline is rapidly approaching and starting with our next payroll we will no longer be distributing paychecks in house. All paychecks will be mailed starting with our next payroll. Thank you all who have signed up for direct deposit!
Our federal transitional living grant was up for five year renewal this year and we were not successful at renewing this grant. What has made matters even worse is that we have learned that there will be no "request for proposals" next year at all.
I have just returned from Washington , D.C. from a meeting with three of of our congressional representatives and there is some hope that a special appropriation (earmark) will be submitted to help us get through next year and allow us to continue to provide services to our non-system involved, runaway and homeless youth, who are the most vulnerable of all the young people we work with.
In addition, there is $12 million in new funding contemplated in the DYFS reform efforts targeting runaway and homeless youth, specifically basic center and transitional living programs. The combined funding from a potential earmark and from DYFS reform efforts will help to fund the operations and capital budgets of 'My Place', an expansion of the Passages Transitional Living program.
On February 17, 2004 a DYFS reform plan was presented which represents more than $125 million of new funding initiatives the New Jersey child welfare system. 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. Please click on the following link to download the DYFS Reform plan: http://www.gardenstatecoalition.org/main/docs/NEWCW1.doc.
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 Ethicon, Inc., a Johnson and Johnson Company to support our educational program.
As always, thank you for your continued hard work on behalf of our youth.
Sincerely,