Program:
Program Overview (Budget is inclusive of all programs, including the ones listed below)
- Budget:
-
$8,100,263
- Category:
-
Human Services
- Population Served:
-
Other Named Groups
Program Description:
ECS programs serve over 2000 children and adults each year.
ECS St. Barnabas Mission for homeless women and their children serves about 150 families each year, offering enhanced shelter services including nutrition, after-school and early-childhood education, comprehensive case managment and more.
The Children and Family Services department includes outcome-oriented foster care, kinship care, and family preservation services. The ECS FAST Program provides permanent housing and case management to chronically homeless families.
ECS Home Care helps seniors and the disabled remain safe, healthy, and in their own homes.
Other ECS programs include workshops for parents, children, and teens, adult literacy, and the ECS Beacon after-school program in the Feltonville section of Philadelphia.
Program Long-Term Success:
Implemented a renewed Program Quality Improvement initiative.
Program Short-Term Success:
Program Success Monitored by:
Program Success Examples:
Program:
ECS St. Barnabas Mission
- Budget:
-
$1,512,388
- Category:
-
Housing
- Population Served:
-
Homeless
-
Female Adults
-
Blacks
Program Description:
ECS St. Barnabas Mission provides shelter, case management and related services to homeless women and their children. The Mission maintained high quality service and met the diverse needs of families presenting mental health, substance abuse, poverty and other challenges. During the 2009 fiscal year, 143 female-headed families (including 190 children) found a safe haven at ECS St. Barnabas.
One thing most families have in common is young children – half of all the children served were age four or younger. Most families include just one or two children. The majority of mothers at the Mission were under 30, while a substantial minority of 22% were between the ages of 40 and 64.
Intensive case management at the Mission helps families address economic and personal barriers to obtaining housing. This year, 64% of families demonstrated improved ability to handle common life issues and received at least one award for improvement in upkeep of living areas, parenting behaviors, hygiene or participation in the savings program.
While just under a quarter of families remain in shelter for only a few days or weeks, most residents stay for one to nine months. Of the 112 families who left the Mission this year, 73% moved into safe, stable housing.
In confidential surveys, 75% of residents reported a positive experience with residential assistance at the Mission. In order to meet ECS’s goal of 90% client satisfaction, ECS St. Barnabas is changing new resident intake procedures and training staff in developing positive customer service relationships, with a focus on time and stress management.
At any given time, ECS St. Barnabas is home to about 100 women and children, resulting in significant wear and tear. ECS continually maintains and improves the facility inside and out. This year, the agency made improvements to the exterior, including the removal of an abandoned building adjacent to the playground and installation of a security fence. Grants from The Western Association of Ladies for Relief and Employment of the Poor and the Falconhead Foundation supported the replacement of aging kitchen equipment to maintain sanitation and efficiency in a facility that serves three meals a day, 365 days a year.
ECS St. Barnabas operates under a contract with the Philadelphia Office of Supportive Housing, which provides all resident referrals.
Program Long-Term Success:
Families will move to safe, stable housing. Program interventions will reduce likelihood of family returning to shelter.
Program Short-Term Success:
Families will move to safe, stable housing.
Program Success Monitored by:
ECS montors outcomes via Client Data Managment System, confidential surveys and incident reports.
Program Success Examples:
Of the 112 families who left the Mission this year, 73% moved into safe, stable housing. In confidential surveys, 75% of residents reported a positive experience with residential assistance at the Mission.
Program:
ECS Foster/Kinship Care
- Budget:
-
$1,975,150
- Category:
-
Human Services
- Population Served:
-
Children and Youth (infants - 19 years.)
Program Description:
Operating under a contract with the Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS), the ECS Foster/Kinship Care program fills a vital need for children who have been adjudicated into out-of-home placements due to abuse, neglect, or a parent’s temporary inability to care for them. ECS is also one of a handful of agencies in the region to specialize in services for children with serious medical conditions and disabilities.
In 2009, ECS provided safe, caring homes to 131 children. When a child is placed into foster or kinship (with a family member) care, ECS’ goal is to achieve a permanent outcome for that child as quickly as possible. Sometimes that means working to solve the problems at home to allow for a safe reunification with a birth family. In other situations, adoption or another long-term custody arrangement is a better option.
One key to successful outcomes is cultivating caring foster parents, especially those who can care for the growing number of medically needy children ECS serves. ECS engaged current foster parents to brainstorm ideas for recruitment, leading to several successful recruitment events and certification of seven new foster parents.
Continued training of staff and foster/kinship care parents included new interactive workshops on child and adolescent development and life skills training. In confidential surveys, foster/kinship parents cited ECS case managers’ willingness to listen and help solve problems and the program’s informative training workshops.
The ECS Foster/Kinship Care program works closely with the ECS volunteer services department to obtain donated school supplies, clothing and household goods to improve services and aid in family reunification.
Program Long-Term Success:
Permanancy for children in out-of-home placements, including family-reunification, adoption and long-term custody.
Program Short-Term Success:
Health and well-being of children in program, improvements in birth family situations.
Program Success Monitored by:
Performance-Based Contracting
Program Success Examples:
In the 2009 fiscal year, ECS exceeded performance-based contracting expectations by 20%, achieving permanent outcomes for 30 children in foster/kinship care. Two teens from the foster care program graduated high school and went on to college. ECS also achieved permanent outcomes for 12 children in the medical foster care program. No children were returned to care within one year of family reunification. ECS foster care has also received a #1 rating among 24 local agencies on the new DHS report card.
Program:
ECS Home Care
- Budget:
-
$1,601,232
- Category:
-
Human Services
- Population Served:
-
Aging/Elderly/Senior Citizens
Program Description:
The ECS Home Care Department provides quality services to elderly and disabled persons living in the Philadelphia area.
With the provision of homemaker, nursing, and case management services, 155 clients experienced greater quality of life and continued to live independently. With regular in-home monitoring, assessments and follow-up care by home care staff, the total number of clients remaining in their homes and returning to their homes after hospitalization continues to grow, with 70% of all clients remaining in the program for 12 months or more.
In the 2009 fiscal year, increased staff supervision and improved scheduling procedures led to significant improvements in punctuality. In confidential surveys, 72% of clients indicated that their home health aides were consistently on time, compared to only 34% the year before.
ECS Home Care initiated emergency planning to ensure that staff and clients are better prepared in the event of an emergency. Staff can readily identify the neediest clients and know the agencies to contact, and clients have emergency telephone numbers at hand.
Client referrals come from a variety of sources, including Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, managed care organizations, social service agencies, hospitals, clergy and through word of mouth.
Program Long-Term Success:
Clients experienced greater quality of life and continue to live independently.
Program Short-Term Success:
Clients experienced greater quality of life and continue to live independently.
72% of clients indicated that their home health aides were consistently on time, compared to only 34% the year before.
Program Success Monitored by:
In-home visits by nurses and case managers, incident reports, utilization reports.
Program Success Examples:
70% of all clients remained in the program for 12 months or more.