Somerset Home for Temporarily Displaced Children
Jeffrey Fetzko, ACSW, LSW, CFRE
Vol. 5, No. 3, February 8, 2007
The Executive Director's News is published every two weeks, specifically for the employees 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.
Nicole Franco, Passages Senior Case Manager Moving on to the Tri-County CMO
Nicole Franco, has announced her departure and transition to the Tri-County CMO (Care Management Organization) in March. Nicole has worked in our transitional living program for seven years. Nicole is responsible for developing and implementing treatment plans for all Passages youth. In addition, Nicole also provides guidance and supervision to the case managers at My Place and Whitney House transitional living programs. However, none of these jobs compares to the difficult job Nicole has undertaken, implementing the ABSOLUTE© client care management tool which allows us to claim reimbursements for youth in care at Passages. Nicole has both implemented this Medicaid claiming program and successfully managed it for nearly five years.
Nicole is truly one of the most sensitive and competent social workers I have had the pleasure to know and I hope you will all join me in wishing her well at her transition to the CMO. It is a tremendous loss for Somerset Home as well as each of her clients. We will miss her.
Newly Elected President of the New Jersey Alliance for Children Youth and Families
I am honored to report that the membership of the New Jersey Alliance has elected me as President of NJACYF for a two-year term. The Alliance (which is the result of the merger between the Garden State Coalition for Youth and Family Concerns and the New Jersey Association of Children's Residential Facilities), is a membership organization of 44 agencies and represents over 2,000 residential and out-of-home beds and other community-based services for NJ's vulnerable youth. Alliance members represent the needs of runaway and homeless youth and youth who must be removed from their homes and placed in alternate living situations.
The Alliance's annual conference, 'Trauma to Triumph' will be held on April 20, 2007 at the Pines Manor in Edison and our guest speaker is Liz Murray, of the "Homeless to Harvard" Lifetime TV movie fame. Liz is young person who was a homeless youth and because of her determination and the guidance of adults who believed in her has become a great success. She is now a senior at Harvard finishing up her undergraduate degree.
At the conference NJACYF will award $20,000 in scholarships to youth attending college. Last year five Somerset Home youth each received a $1,000 scholarship from this fund. In addition, workshops will be offered on dealing with the challenges of youth work in a residential setting. Also, therapists, child care workers and case managers will receive awards for outstanding service. If you believe someone you work with is deserving of one of these awards, or would like to attend the conference to benefit from the educational sessions, please let your program director know by February 16, 2007.
For more information about the Alliance and the Alliance annual conference please check out the website at http://www.njacyf.org.
New Terms: "Unaccompanied Youth", "Connected by 25"
UNACCOMPANIED YOUTH: The term "runaway and homeless youth" has always been problematic and the term "unaccompanied youth" is being introduced as part of the reauthorization of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (federal) in 2008 in an effort to further define the youth in our care. When you hear this term, just remember it is the new term for runaway and homeless youth.
CONNECTED BY 25: Another relatively new term, "connected by 25" is sweeping the nation and has implications for the work we do with unaccompanied youth. Connected by 25: Improving the Life Chances of the Country's Most Vulnerable Youth or http://www.somersethome.org/main/pdf/CONNECTED.BY.25.pdf identifies the four groups of youth who are at the highest risk of long-term unemployment, incarceration, and social disconnection. It discusses a number of policy directions for helping these youth make successful transitions into adulthood. This publication helps identify future directions for youth services, specifically expanding aging-out services to age 24. I would encourage all staff, especially those working with older youth to read this short publication.
As always, thank you all for your continued hard work on behalf of our youth.
