A Community Based Care Agency

Brevard Family Partnership

Board Report

March 26, 2015

Patricia Nellius-Guthrie, CEO

Narrative Report

March is National Social Work month. As a result, we have invited our CMA leadership and a family they serve to attend the March meeting to share the progress of the transition, innovations they are implementing, and the work they are doing with the children and families entrusted to their care. We have also been highlighting IMPOWER and C.A.R.E.S. child welfare professionals on Face Book and held the third 10th Anniversary monthly recognition event at the South and Central Care Centers on March 18th to recognize the work and dedication of IMPOWER and Brevard C.A.R.E.S. child welfare professionals. This was another successful event coordinated and hosted by the BFP Leadership Team

I am pleased to report Stockton Whitten, Eric Smith and Valerie Holmes have all been nominated for awards and recognition at the Eckerd Brevard Walk of Fame Ceremony that was held on Saturday March 14th from 6:00 – 9:00 pm at the Radisson Resort Convention Center in Cape Canaveral. Stockton was selected and recognized as one of the Walk of Fame Honorees. Congratulations!

On February 26, 2015 I had the privilege to attend the Brevard Bar Foundation Annual Award event to share my gratitude for their generous contribution to BFP and throughout the community. The Brevard Bar Foundation has made a great impact on the nonprofit community and particularly has shared their generosity with BFP. I would like to express a special word of appreciation to Brooke Deratany Goldfarb for including BFP at the wonderful event and for recommending BFP as one of the beneficiary agencies.

I am pleased to share that Dr. Howes, Brooke Deratany-Goldfarb, and Ashley Carraro will be attending the 2015 Ready By 21 National Meeting held on March 31 – April 2, 2015 in New Orleans. The National Meeting brings together up to 400 national, state and local leaders committed to improving partnerships, policies and practices for children and youth. These leaders are managing change at all levels – from state policy coordination and community-wide cradle-to-career efforts to out-of-school time systems, single-issue coalitions and neighborhood-based initiatives. We look forward to hearing about the best practices we can replicate to improve the quality of life for our youth and young adults.

Moss, Krusick and Associates have completed the annual audit and presented the findings to the audit committee. They will be present at the March Board meeting to present the audit to the members. Congratulations to Jim Carlson, Jessica Simmons and the Finance team for a job well done.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Awareness month. In recognition of this important initiative we will have a Brevard C.A.R.E.S. family present at the April meeting to share their experience with members. There are several special events being held throughout the month to increase community awareness of child abuse prevention. They include:

· A proclamation reading at Squid Lips on March 28th at 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.

o Location: Squid Lips Overwater Grill
1477 Pineapple Avenue, Melbourne *activities will occur outside on the beach area

o Activities: 5:00 Dinner (5% of food sales donated to CAPTF from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.)

5:30 Children’s activities & 50/50 raffle

6:30 Proclamation reading

· April 2, 2015: Reading of the Child Abuse Prevention Proclamation and pinwheel planting will occur at the Brevard County Viera Courthouse at 12:00 pm

· The CAPTF Breakfast awards April 30,, 2015 at the Suntree Country Club at 8:30 am (members wishing to attend please rsvp with Laurie Anna)

In addition to the local events we will be hosting a delegation who will attend Children’s Week in Tallahassee from April 13-15th. They include: Jim Carlson, Patricia Nellius, Christa Bailey, Tracey Kinsley, LaChrista Jones, Danielle Santiago, Stephanie Strodtman, Robin Whiting, Shennelle Robertson and Jessica Miles.

On March 4, 2015, Kimah Burrell tendered her resignation at Brevard C.A.R.E.S. I am pleased to announce that Debbie Davidson Cook has agreed to serve as the Interim Executive Director while we work with the C.A.R.E.S. Board to conduct an executive search.

This is the grant season with the Federal Government and many grants are being released in a short timeframe. BFP has partnered with Brevard County Government to submit a Dependency Drug Court grant that will expand capacity to meet the needs of families who enter the dependency system due to substance abuse. If awarded, this grant is $325,000 annually for 3 years and will enable us to build capacity in the much needed area of substance abuse treatment. The grant will be submitted to the County on April 10, 2015. BFP has also submitted 2 grants: one to the Community Foundation for Cribs for Kids and one to Walmart for the Dependency Drug Court-Client incentives.

The 2014 Annual Report is in draft and expected to be available for review at the April Board meeting.

The CEO annual PE is due to be presented at the May Board meeting. A copy of the Evaluation will be provided to each member and is due back to Laurie Anna Blackburn by April 14 to be aggregated and presented at the May 2015 Board meeting. The CEO Self Evaluation and supplementary documentation will be emailed and posted on the Board portal for your review

Activities and planning for the 10th Anniversary are progressing nicely. The committees are expanding with tremendous community support. Enie Windle had the opportunity to promote the Gala and share about the mission of BFP on a local radio talk show. To date BFP has received pledges in the amount of $1,100 and has received a total of $51,100 towards our $100,000 goal. Much appreciation to our wonderful community volunteers for going above and beyond to support BFP and most importantly the vulnerable children and families we serve.

The redirection of the NCFIE has occurred. There are several major projects underway. First, includes designing and hosting an annual Wraparound Training Certification Institute that will take place twice a year. The first Institute will occur in May 2015 with 12 registrants to date. Second, is to begin the planning for the 2016 National Wraparound Conference. Anyone interested in volunteering to assist with the planning is welcome. Third, is to enter into a revised revenue sharing agreement with Mindshare and lastly to enter into a revenue sharing agreement with the Academy for Competent Youth Work. We have also successfully recruited 3 national Wraparound experts to the Board.

On Sunday March 8th there was a most unfortunate tragic accident involving a child placed in foster care. After being airlifted to the hospital the child was pronounced deceased. In discussion with Palm Bay Law Enforcement it was reported that all evidence at that juncture deemed the incident an accident.

Following the death of any child in care it is standard protocol for BFP Quality and Compliance staff to conduct a risk management review. In addition, DCF is required to conduct a quality review. As a result of the initial due diligence process that ensues whenever there is a critical incident, BFP became aware that Devereux Florida Inc. failed to comply and perform according to the terms of its contract with BFP. While the review process is still ongoing, the preliminary findings resulted in BFP issuing Devereux Florida Inc. a Cure Letter on Wed. March 18, 2015.

The CEO and Sr. Executives have all remained in close contact with DCF throughout this process. BFP has submitted a preliminary plan to DCF outlining actions that have and will be taken by BFP to monitor and manage this process. Following the impending response from Devereux Florida Inc. a more comprehensive, measureable, detailed plan will be drafted.

To date, BFP has identified a team of 10 quality review staff who will conduct home visits to every foster home to validate the documentation Devereux Florida Inc. has provided to BFP on licensed foster homes managed by them. The visits will begin on Friday March 20th and will occur based on predetermined criteria used to establish a 3 tier prioritization system. Devereux Florida Inc. will present its response to the Cure Letter on Tuesday March 24, 2015 at 9:00 am to BFP and DCF Leadership. On Thursday March 19th the BFP Director of Communications and Devereux Risk Manager met with the Foster Parent Association to answer any questions or concerns they might have. We have many dedicated and outstanding foster parents who go far above and beyond to care for and protect Brevard’s children. This review is no reflection of our high quality foster parents but rather standard protocol during a critical event. Senior Management continues to address and manage this situation daily and will continue to do so until it is remedied to our satisfaction.

Respectfully Submitted,

Patricia Nellius

Chief Executive Officer