We recently completed our first round of Town Hall Meetings. We introduced these meetings as one of several steps to bolster communication and transparency at the agency. Town Hall meetings will be conducted twice each year, with the next round scheduled for March 6, 2017.
Following the meetings, we will share meeting notes with everyone so even if you were not able to participate in one of the sessions – either live or via video conference – these notes will keep you informed.
A mission moment was shared as the meeting opened to remind us all of the good work we do.
Upcoming Family & Children’s Center events:
10/22/16 – Paint the Town Purple – Viroqua, proceeds go to Domestic Abuse Project
11/3/16 – Monte Carlo – FCC’s signature fundraising event of the year. Proceeds go to Healthy Families and Stepping Stones
12/3/16 – Lego La Crosse – Proceeds go to Hope Academy
12/6/16 – FCC Holiday Party – 5:30 pm. Venue to be announced
Program Updates:
We were granted a 30-day waiver regarding staff training requirements for the Level 5 Home and entered a partnership with two other agencies to staff for the 30 days. However, we were unable to hire the staff needed to maintain the program. Extensive efforts were put in to hiring, including making positions full time, offering retention bonuses, and increasing wages.
Host Homes has been funded for a second year and four new initiatives have been put in place to better meet the needs of the community.
Tracking Winona has experienced a change in programming. Drug court services we have provided will now be provided by that county in-house, while we will continue to provide juvenile services.
We received a large, 5 year grant from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) which will help fund Stepping Stones, Matty’s Place and Safe Haven. A therapist position will be added to services.
Efforts continue to develop programming for the Weston property that is not being used. We are leaning against developing one of the ideas suggested by the committee – for second and third shift day care – due to a current trend of difficulty hiring for these shifts. Another option we are looking into is renting the space to someone else to provide services in the short run. This option could provide some revenue for us while we develop longer term programming alternatives.
New Federal Overtime Law:
Family & Children’s Center will be operating a dry run or practice period regarding overtime, which started Sunday, October 2 and is running through November 27, when we go live operating by the new requirements. Employees will record their work hours each day on their time sheets, including overtime. Pay for overtime (for those staff newly becoming eligible) will not go into effect until Nov. 27 and will need to be pre-approved. Please review and complete your acknowledgement for the new policy if you have not already done so. There were no questions about the new overtime guidelines.
Centralized Ordering of Supplies:
This allows for better checking of prices and better overview of our purchases. One example of savings is our ability to save $22.00 for one kind of toner cartridge. Gayle Smith is leading this project. She also has some supplies in stock, so that some orders could be filled just from what we have on hand. Point persons for ordering at each location will work with Gayle and Gayle will place all orders. The first step of this project is with office supplies, the second step will be cleaning supplies and the final step will be program supplies.
We spent time exchanging ideas and made time for questions:
In Winona, staff would like to see a 5K event organized- for both fundraising and for marketing and raising awareness of Family & Children’s Center in the community.
In Winona, staff asked about having an FCC parade float put together that could be used in parades, for raising awareness of Family & Children’s Center in the community.
In Winona, it was suggested that FCC staff attend other agency’s events, to have a presence, mend relationships and be a leader in the community.
In Rochester, it was recommended that we improve our marketing efforts to schools and other potential referral sources.
In La Crosse, it was suggested that we look in to decreasing our required age of 21 for hire, so that we can utilize a larger pool of potential workers. It was noted that age requirements were recently reviewed for some programs with no change recommended, and some programs/licensure require an age or an age difference between clients and staff. We will look into the specifics about this for all programs/locations.
In La Crosse, it was suggested that we look in to the possibility of FCC staff being hosts for Host Homes.
In La Crosse, the question was asked “Are there new plans/ideas for HR for this new hiring era?”. Tita shared that hiring will be a part of the 2017 Strategic Plan and that we are looking particularly in to ways of “growing our own” staff through internships and other options.
In La Crosse, the question was asked “Do we have sign on bonuses?”. Tita shared that we have retention bonuses but not sign on bonuses.
In La Crosse, the question was asked “Are the Level 5 people out of their jobs?”. Tita shared that there are many job opportunities in house, that HR met with some of the staff last week and has set aside meeting times for all others so the staff can be informed about specific jobs and the process for expressing interest.
To all who participated in the Town Hall Meetings, we appreciate your time, thoughtfulness, and feedback. We hope employees found this helpful as well.