Somerset Home for Temporarily Displaced Children
Jeffrey Fetzko, ACSW, LSW, CFRE
Vol. 5, No. 19, September 20, 2007
The Executive Director's News is published every two weeks, and is specifically written for the employees, board of trustees and friends of the Somerset Home. This issue and past issues are available on our web site at http://www.somersethome.org/main/pages/employee_newsletter.htm.
Brahma House Licensing Inspection
Brahma House will be having its first licensing inspection from the Department of Children and Families since receiving it's group home designation two years ago. The inspection will be conducted by three representatives of the Office of Licensing and will span three days from October 3-5, 2007.
The policies and procedures we implement every day are written in accordance with best practice standards as outlined by the Council on Accreditation and the requirements mandated by the Office of Licensing.
What you can expect: Licensing staff will interview staff and youth. They might ask you things like "Do you allow clients to make unimpeded phone calls to DYFS case workers? They will follow up with the kids and ask them the same question. They may ask the kids about meals and what the level of supervision is like. Or, do we punish kids as a group? They may come early and stay late to observe the operation of the program at various times of day including wake up, meal time and bed time. They will ask to see the personnel and client files, fire drill log, bed check and property check log, medication log, and the daily log to name a few.
We have a common purpose with our licensing inspectors - to make sure the program services being received by our youth are the best possible services available.
Our licensing inspections usually go very well. I don't expect this visit will be an exception. If you have any questions about what else you can expect during this inspection, please ask Marshall Christie or me.
Planned Giving Seminar for Somerset Home Donors
As you know, our Somerset Home development staff is continually challenged to raise all of the revenue necessary to fund our program activities. One of our newest areas of development is planned giving.
Accordingly, Somerset Home has partnered with Yale Levey, who is a is Founder and Managing Director for Next Generation Wealth Planning, LLC located in Roseland, NJ. He is a nationally recognized financial educator, speaker and lecturer. Please click on flyer for information about our next seminar which is free to Somerset Home donors.
Please contact Joe Godby if you know anyone who may be interested or would like more information about this program.
Free Flu Shots for Somerset Home Employees
On Wednesday, October 24th, between 5:30 PM and 6:30 PM at Passages we will once again be offering free flu shots for all Somerset Home employees.
Family members may also get flu shots for our cost of $25 (make checks payable to Somerset Home). Please let your supervisor know so we can get a rough count of how many to expect. Please try to come as close to 5:30 PM as possible.
As always, thank you all for your continued hard work on behalf of our youth.
