Vol. 2, No. 7, March 24, 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
I am so pleased to see so many of you signed up for the 401(k) program. Most staff have told me that they have started out with 1% of their salary, just to see how it goes. Also, many have spoken to Bill Gibson, our Merrill Lynch representative who can be reached at 800-236-7035. Please call him if you have not as yet done so. He can help you determine which investment strategy is best for you and then you can go to the secure web site and make the changes to your account yourself. Below is a snapshot of a distribution Bill helped to create for me.
All of the abbreviations to the right represent different funds at Merrill Lynch.
If you have decided not to participate please fill out a form waiving your right to participation. This is something that you can change at a later date if you change your mind.
Remember, you can always check your account status at https://benefits.paychex.com/.
Health Insurance Update
On February 25, 2004, we held another in a series of joint staff meetings where we discussed the health insurance transition. I was encouraged to see so many people there. We discussed the transition from Oxford to Horizon (Blue Cross Blue Shield) Health Insurance. Everyone has filled out the necessary paperwork and as of April 1, 2004 we will no longer be using Oxford for our health insurance. I expect to have all the new cards and booklets to you within two weeks and want this to be as seamless a process as possible. Please contact Gary Kreutzer if you have any questions or need another provider book. I would take a few minutes to determine if your current doctor is in the book and call their office to let them know that you are switching insurance carriers and/or determine who your primary physician will be.
For those of you who have selected one of the two upgraded insurance products, or are paying for "family, husband/wife, parent/child" coverage, fees will be deducted from your paycheck on a pretax basis through a provision known as the "premium only plan".
Direct Deposit
Today's payroll is the first one where we are 100% direct deposit. We will no longer be distributing paychecks in-house. This procedure will result in a much safer system and your funds will be available sooner because you don't have to wait for the funds to clear when the funds are "wire transferred" into your account. Thank you all who have signed up for direct deposit!
Computerized Payroll
Our payroll is now being done 100% online. Congratulations to Gary Kreutzer and Ellen Horn for getting this system set up. The next step is to move to twice a month payroll and put the vacation and sick time available information on the checks but we have to make sure that this process is up and running before we add any bells and whistles. Please notify your supervisor if you have any problems with your paycheck as we go through this transition.
In the last week we have submitted a request to for a $250,000 earmark to the congress of the United States, two CDBG grants totaling $250,000 and in the coming weeks a Department of Community Affairs grant for an additional $400,000. In addition, there is $12 million in new funding anticipated 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 and we are hopeful that the increased interest in TLP in New Jersey will result our expanding TLP residential services by ten beds in the next year.
For those of you interested in reading more about the New Jersey TLP initiatives there is an interesting study which was conducted in New York last year that has come to many of the same conclusions as we in New Jersey have. It is called, Time Running Out: Teens in Foster Care, November 2003, Children's Rights, New York City, NY and the full document can be read online at http://www.gardenstatecoalition.org/main/pdf/time_running_out.pdf
After a year of planning the Child Welfare Reform Plan was released on 2/18/04.
Note: This links in this section are only accessible in the online format. If you a viewing a hard copy of this newsletter please go online to http://www.somersethome.org/main/pages/employee.htm. and click on this newsletter edition, Vol. 2, No. 6, March 10, 2004 to access these links.
A
New Beginning: The Future of Child Welfare in New Jersey
Submit
a Comment on the Plan
Community
Partnership & Resource Development Workgroup Report
Resource
Family Workgroup Report
Practice
Workgroup Report
Garden State Coalition Testimony on the Child Welfare Reform Plan
Children's Rights - Children's Rights News
New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services
New Jersey Department of Human Services
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 $5,000 grant from Schering to support our educational program.
As always, thank you for your continued hard work on behalf of our youth.
Sincerely,
