Child & Family Services of Northwestern Michigan
Final Grant Report for
Fiscal agent if applicant is not tax exempt:
Tax ID Number:
38-2534222
Contact First Name:
Contact Last Name:
Tara
Ward
3785 Veterans Drive
Address:
Email:
12319468975
Phone Number:
Website:
Project Name:
Stable Staffing: Providing hiring/retention incentives for Safe Haven North employees in order to provide best services
Project start and end dates:
Tuesday, July 1, 2025
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Amount Granted From Hestia:
$
2000
Project results and Impact
How many girls/women have been served by the project during this project year?
Due to delays with the federal government approval of our final budget, we opened Safe Haven North later than anticipated in 2024. Our open house was October 2nd. We received our first referral October 7th, and our first visit was November 6th.
In total, we have now completed 85 visits, serving 15 women and 15 girls! We have completed 34 parent intakes and 16 child intakes.
Six female workers were provided retention bonuses with Hestia Women’s Giving Circle grant funds. All are still employed at CFS. Thank you!
Goal of the Project
Did you meet your program goals for the grant period?
If yes, how do you know? Please describe any program evaluation you use:
If no, please describe current barriers and how you are working to overcome them:
The main goal of this project was to retain staff with retention bonuses. We are happy to report that the 6 female staff people who received retention bonuses from Hestia funds are all still employed with CFS! The Hestia grant demonstrated that bonuses (likely among other factors) raised pay and morale, and helped retain staff. Now, the need for better pay to retain Safe Haven staff has now been noted within the organization. Solutions are being vigorously pursued. Thank you for providing this demonstration of the power of retention bonuses/better pay.
While the Safe Haven North program did not meet all goals for number of clients served due to the Federal Government’s delayed budget approval, referrals are ongoing and steadily increasing. This new program is now successfully working with the courts and others in the community to identify and refer families. We held both an Open House and a Walk in Petoskey, “7 Steps Forward,” to raise awareness of domestic violence and services.
The goal of keeping 100% of program participants safe while receiving services was met. Every client with needs was supported with resources and/or connections with other resources in their community.
Do you have a story of how your program positively changed participant's situation, behavior, or knowledge?
If so, please share it:
We have a client that had not been able to see his daughter for over 2 years. At first, the youngster was reluctant to come to see her dad, but now enjoys their visits together. We helped foster this relationship between dad and daughter. Because of this success, we are now adding time to their visits. There is a future possibility of moving to supervised exchanges, where they can spend even more time together. During our time with this family, we have given the father resources to help with gas and counseling services. He has now secured full time employment and permanent housing, creating future stability for him & his daughter.
Many Safe Haven North families have received referrals to our collaborators, Legal Services of Northwestern Michigan and the Women's Resource Center of Northern Michigan. We have assisted monetarily with a deposit on housing, utility bills, and gas for generators during our recent ice storm. We have provided gift cards for gas, clothing, food, toiletries, and a new bed for a child.
Clients have also been blessed with having much of the same staff over the past year, modeling stability and consistency. Thank you for helping us reduce staff turnover.
Sustainability
Will this project continue?
If so, how will it be funded?
If not, why not?
The Safe Haven North program will continue under its 3-year grant from the federal Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). So far, no disruptions in the federal funding of this program have been announced, and we are hopeful that the common-sense and fiscally wise nature of this service will mean that it is preserved from federal budget cuts.
Community partners like Hestia and many others continue to supplement the program by funding needed items not covered with its base grant. We will vigorously pursue opportunities to provide retention bonuses to staff in the future.
Public Relations
How did you publicize this grant?
Please list any examples.
Our Open House on October 2nd was very successful; it gave our primary referral sources a better understanding of the program and demonstrated how we keep families safe in a setting where we clearly ensure the comfort of parents and children alike. Shortly afterwards, we received our first referral. The “7 Steps Forward” Walk on 10/19 also helped increase our visibility in the community to clients, referral sources, collaborators and others.
In addition, the Hestia Women’s Giving Circle is thanked among other grantors on the CFS website.
Summary Comments
The program continues to grow the number of families served. Staffing shortages may limit the extent of growth due to workforce shortages of people interested in and capable of doing this challenging work. We hope that retention bonuses will retain the highly-qualified staff that we do have.
Funds were spent as follows: $1880 on retention bonuses for 6 employees and $120 on associated payroll taxes. All 6 bonused employees are still with CFS.
A second growth story involves a female client who is a survivor of domestic violence. She lost custody of her children due to mental health issues. Through Safe Haven North, she is now able to see her daughter weekly. They spend time making crafts, building LEGO sets that mom brings in, sharing food, etc. This mother also has a child from a different co-parent. She began supervised visits with this second child last month. For the first time in years, the siblings get to be together, spending time with each other and their mother. Safe Haven North also enables the children to spend time with their younger sister, who mom often brings to the visit. Without Safe Haven North, these warm and successful family visits would not be happening.
Grant Final Budget Form
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