Running head: AGENCY

Agency Report: Supporting Kidds Sophie DeMesse Wilmington University

AGENCY In 1989, there were very few childrens grief centers in the country. Supporting Kidds, Inc. was established during this time to provide comfort, support, and healing to children and

families grieving the loss of a loved one. What was once a small volunteer-based organization is now an agency with paid staff members, a Board of Directors, and a wide range of programs and services. These services include assessments, consultations, individual counseling, grief support groups, educational programs, and professional development workshops. Children need support in dealing with their grief after losing a loved one unexpectedly. Supporting Kidds is a comprehensive center that can help children and their families understand the process of grief and support them in the healing process. The mission of Supporting Kidds is to provide a compassionate pathway to healing for grieving children and their families, and to empower the community to support them in the grieving process (Mission, n.d.). They do this by offering a broad array of programs and services. Their grief support group program, Healing Pathways, provides grieving children the opportunity to spend time with same-aged peers who are experiencing similar situations (Support Groups, n.d.). Other programs and services include Guiding Pathways for individualized support, and an educational series called Pathways Through Life. Supporting Kidds believes that when provided with support and information, grieving children and their families can mobilize their own capacities to heal (Mission, n.d.). Supporting Kidds target population is grieving children, ages three to young adult, in Delaware and the surrounding region. They primarily serve children age five through eighteen. The agency collects data on the families they serve. However, not all information has been transferred into a database where it can be analyzed. The demographic data presented is from their Spring/Fall 2012 Healing Pathways program and is representative of the individuals and

AGENCY families they serve throughout their programs. The data shows that the majority of children receiving services are in the age range of seven to twelve years old. Children ages thirteen and above represent the second highest, and children ages five through six represent the smallest group. The majority of families receiving services identify as being Caucasian and have an annual household income of $70,000 or above. More than one-quarter of the families reside in Wilmington, and roughly one-quarter of the families live out of state, or in Bear, Hockessin, or New Castle. Policies and procedures can be found in the Supporting Kidds Personnel Policy Manual. The manual, which contains a summary of current policies, rules, procedures and benefits, is applicable to all employees of the organization. It contains guidelines on general policies, performance standards, compensation, and benefits. In the manual you will find policies regarding federal and state laws and regulations, such as Drug Free Work Environment, Nondiscrimination, and Sexual Harassment. Employees are expected to adhere to high ethical standards, and should always consider ethical principles and practices in their decisions and

actions. They must be familiar with their professional code of ethics, as well as Supporting Kidds Code of Ethics. All employees complete Performance Evaluations each year in January. They are also responsible for preserving confidential information relating to client and volunteer records. The organizational configuration of Supporting Kidds is a traditional, hierarchical structure. It is a small nonprofit consisting of four paid staff members. The Board of Directors govern the agency. They oversee the organizations activities and their responsibilities are defined in the agencys bylaws. The board supports the Executive Director in performing day-today operations. The Executive Director works full time and is responsible for the daily operation

AGENCY of the agency and for implementing key organizational objectives as outlined by the Board of Directors in the organizations mission/vision statements and strategic action plan. Under the Executive Director are the Financial Manager Volunteer, Development

Director, Clinical Director, and Office Manager. The Financial Manager Volunteer is responsible for payroll, audit, tax payments, bank reconciliations, etc. The Development Director is part of the administrative staff, but only works part-time at 24 hours per week. She is responsible for developing new and maintaining current agency fundraising initiatives, managing and marketing agency public relations strategies, researching and implementing grants and managing volunteers. The Development Director organizes and supervises 50+ unpaid volunteers per year. These volunteers help out with events, facility maintenance, item drives, etc. Responsibility for training and supervising the 40+ per year unpaid program volunteer facilitators falls under the Clinical Director. She works full time and is responsible for developing and overseeing all services, providing training and consultation to the larger community, networking with related organizations, and providing psychotherapy and consultation services to clients. The Clinical Director also supervises clinical practicum/intern students. These individuals work 16-24 hours per week and provide psychotherapy and consultation services to clients, conduct client intakes, and support the Clinical Director with other necessary tasks. The Office Manager works 25-29 hours per week and is responsible for phone, mail, facility needs, supplies and support for both program and administrative staff. She is also responsible for managing daily finances paying invoices and making deposits.

AGENCY

Board Officers & Board Members

Executive Director

Financial Manager Volunteer

Development Director

Office Manager

Clinical Director

Volunteers 50+ per year

Volunteer Facilitators 40+ per year

Clinical Practicum/Intern

As a nonprofit organization, Supporting Kidds is governed by a Board of Directors who set policy and ensure the mission and direction of the organization. The Board Officers include a Chief Executive Officer, Executive Vice Chair, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Administrative Officer, and there are a total of ten Board Members. The Board adheres to the bylaws of Supporting Kidds, which defines responsibilities of the directors and officers, rules and processes for holding and conducting meetings, electing directors, and managing deposits and funds. Funding for the agency comes primarily from fundraising/special events. Some of Supporting Kidds events include Coattails and Glitz, Crazy Catwalk for Kidds, Party on the Patio, and Mustaches for Kidds. Only 15% of funding comes from the programs and services the organization offers. Therapy is provided on a sliding-scale basis, and clients are never turned away because they cannot afford the services. Supporting Kidds also offers scholarships for that specific reason. The remainder of funding comes from contributions, grants, interest/dividend income, and United Way income. Supporting Kidds does not have formal relationships with other human service agencies. They may receive phone calls from other agencies requesting that they provide consultation for a

AGENCY client, but there are no set procedures or rules for that kind of communication. The agency has a strong working relationship with schools, specifically the Colonial School District where they

implement the Trauma and Grief Component Therapy. For the past three years Supporting Kidds has worked with adolescents in three middle schools in the Colonial School District. Supporting Kidds is a unique organization that offers a variety of grief support services to children. They have a focused mission that allows them to do their job well. Their ability to provide services in support groups allows them to broaden their reach to a larger part of the community. Not everyone needs individualized therapy, but support groups can offer something different. The staff at Supporting Kidds are experts in grief. They are all highly motivated and work great together. The board is engaged, they have a great training program for volunteers, and they have managed to stay around for 20 years. On the clinical side, observations have been made regarding trends in clients receiving services. The families are not your traditional nuclear family. More often the staff are seeing families where the parents divorced prior to the death in the family. There have also been more requests for families where there has been some kind of separation from the parent. Challenges for the organization include the fact that Supporting Kidds has no presence in the city of Wilmington. The agency would like to expand services, but that costs money, time, and staff. As an intern, it is my responsibility to follow my agencys policies concerning work attire, attendance, agency paperwork and procedures, code of ethics, and rules of confidentiality. My role is to assist the Development Director in the areas of fundraising, database maintenance, and grant research and writing. I am also required to represent the agency professionally and appropriately at all times. Overall, my role as an intern in the agency is to learn practical skills

AGENCY regarding administrative responsibilities and to develop my own managerial skills and strengths so I can apply them in the future.

AGENCY References Supporting Kidds: Mission. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.supportingkidds.org/pages/content-mission Supporting Kidds: Support Groups. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.supportingkidds.org/pages/content-program-support-groups