January Edition 2010 - New York Nonprofit Press
January Edition 2010 - New York Nonprofit Press
January Edition 2010 - New York Nonprofit Press
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<strong>January</strong> ‘10 <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> Nonprofi t <strong>Press</strong> www.nynp.biz 11<br />
obviously doing good work. Over the past<br />
year, ACS has increased Seamen’s Society’s<br />
contract for general preventive services from<br />
90 slots to 120 on Staten Island and from 30<br />
to 75 in Brooklyn. The agency’s contractual<br />
capacity for its Intensive Preventive program,<br />
which serves Staten Island families<br />
with a history of parental substance abuse,<br />
was also increased from 30 to 50 slots.<br />
“I think it is a recognition of the quality<br />
of our services,” says Vomero.<br />
Seamen’s Society was among a group<br />
of agencies selected by ACS to begin using<br />
the IOC model with preventive programs in<br />
2008. The experience with Family Team<br />
Conferencing was extremely positive, says<br />
Director of Prevention Linda Santlofer.<br />
“For a lot of our parents, this is the first<br />
time anyone ever talked to them about their<br />
strengths and not just about their faults.”<br />
The agency’s Family Rehabilitation<br />
Program, which was launched in 1991, uses<br />
teams of case planners and parent advocates<br />
to provide intensive in-home services<br />
for families where parents have substance<br />
abuse problems. “Initially, we are in the<br />
home three times a week,” says Santlofer.<br />
As parents move through phases of substance<br />
abuse treatment, the level of in-home<br />
supervision decreases. “We have really<br />
strong relationships with all the drug treatment<br />
providers,” says Santlofer.<br />
Child Care<br />
Seamen’s Society has been providing<br />
child care for poor and low-income<br />
families since 1970. “We have a program<br />
which serves 284 children,” says Vomero.<br />
Services are provided through a network of<br />
licensed independent Family Day Care providers<br />
who take children into their homes.<br />
Seamen’s Society provides training and supervision<br />
as well as managing placements<br />
and billing.<br />
“Most of the providers are here on the<br />
north shore,” says Nellie Suarez, MA, Director<br />
of Family Day Care Services. “People<br />
want them as close to the ferry as possible.”<br />
“This is a service that has consistently<br />
scored 100s on ACS audits,” says Vomero,<br />
AGENCY OF THE MONTH<br />
who adds that the program can also offer support<br />
for foster parents or families on prevention<br />
caseloads.<br />
Broadening the Base<br />
Over the years, Seamen’s Society has expanded<br />
its range of programs to meet the service<br />
needs of its current clients and other vulnerable<br />
Staten Island families.<br />
In 1997, the agency launched Safe Passages,<br />
which provides outreach, counseling,<br />
access to legal services and referrals to women<br />
who are victims of domestic abuse. With support<br />
from the Richmond County Savings Bank<br />
Children adopted by their foster parents gathered for an Adoption Month celebraton.<br />
Foundation, the program has recently added<br />
specialized therapy for children who have witnessed<br />
domestic violence. (See “Safe Passage”<br />
in box on page 10.)<br />
Seamen’s Society also operates a Food<br />
Card Outreach Program in partnership with<br />
United Way of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> City. The program’s<br />
supervisor and three Food Card Specialists go<br />
out into the community to provide low-income<br />
working individuals with information about the<br />
availability of federal food stamps, now known<br />
as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.<br />
Staff armed with laptops can do prescreenings<br />
on the spot and assist eligible clients<br />
in filing electronic applications. Last year, the<br />
program assisted more than 1,000 families to<br />
access benefits.<br />
Staff can also help clients navigate bureaucratic<br />
obstacles on the way to assistance.<br />
“It is almost impossible for people to do it by<br />
themselves,” says Jessica Amyotte who directs<br />
both the Food Card and Domestic Violence<br />
programs. “For example, Lauren Moro, our<br />
program supervisor, recently helped a client<br />
win retroactive approval for 18 months worth<br />
of benefits after she had been inappropriately<br />
denied.”<br />
Forward Through Education is another<br />
recent initiative which Seamen’s Society has<br />
launched with the support from the Staten Island<br />
Foundation and the Hearst Foundation.<br />
Retired Department of Education teacher Denton<br />
Mitchell has begun providing weekly academic<br />
and tutoring support for youngsters from<br />
all of Seamen’s Society programs.<br />
“Education is the key,” says Vomero, noting<br />
that the agency also has a scholarship pro-<br />
gram which provides support<br />
to youth in foster care<br />
and preventive programs<br />
who are enrolled in college<br />
or other post-secondary<br />
education programs. “Last<br />
year we gave out 19 scholarships,”<br />
she says.<br />
Vomero, a CPA, has<br />
been with the agency for 12<br />
years, starting out as CFO.<br />
She was named CEO in<br />
June of 2006. “It is important<br />
to have someone who<br />
understands the finances,”<br />
she says. While not a social<br />
worker herself, Vomero<br />
believes she has developed<br />
a lifetime of human service<br />
advocacy experience as the<br />
mother of a daughter with developmental disabilities.<br />
Last year, Vomero bolstered what she<br />
considers to have already been a strong management<br />
team with the addition of Margaret<br />
O’Toole, formerly of Episcopal Social Services,<br />
as Chief Operating Officer.<br />
Looking Ahead<br />
Like all <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> City child welfare<br />
agencies, Seamen’s Society is anxiously<br />
awaiting the results of ACS’ recent Request<br />
for Proposals which will determine service<br />
provider contracts for the next decade. “We<br />
Nineteen youth in Seamen’s Society programs received<br />
scholarships for post-secondary education this year.<br />
certainly are hoping to keep what we have<br />
now,” says Vomero. “And, we would like<br />
to expand our TFBH program and Intensive<br />
Preventive Programs into Brooklyn.”<br />
As she waits, Vomero is resting her hopes<br />
on Seamen’s Society’s strong performance<br />
evaluation ratings and ACS’ recent decisions<br />
to expand the agency’s preventive contract<br />
capacity.<br />
As for further expansion, Vomero has<br />
little interest in growing just for the sake of<br />
growth. “We want to add services where they<br />
are needed by our clients and the families of<br />
Staten Island,” she explains. “Most importantly,<br />
we want to make sure we are doing<br />
what we already do as well as possible.”