Team FCCS Insider News

  Every member and every position in Team FCCS is seen as a child welfare professional, with a hope that each employee feels safe, supported, respected, and valued. Join us in celebrating our newest team members and honoring those who have been promoted. February/March 2025 CONGRATUALTIONS ON THESE PROMOTIONS & TRANSFERS: Destiny Saffell - Social Program Coordinator/Performance Support Ashley Calvin - Social Program Coordinator/Performance Support Sakeenah Akram - Contract Evaluator/Negotiator/Contracts Annie Littlefield - Life Set Program Coordinator/Performance Support WELCOME TO THESE NEW EMPLOYEES: Atira Haile - Education Support Specialist/ Research & Educational Support Casey Barrett - Child Welfare Caseworker 3/Screening Breanna Preece - Child Welfare Caseworker 1/Intake and Investigations Esther Ramireddy - Child Welfare Caseworker 1/Intake and Investigations Teresa Mehaffey - Legal Aide/Legal  Layla Bradford - Child Welfare Caseworker 1/Intake and Inve...

At FCCS, employee committees support staff morale, drive continuous improvement, and prioritize cultural competency. They’re also a good way to communicate and connect with colleagues across the agency. And right now, several committees are looking for new members who want to get involved.  One of those committees - the Supportive Work Environment Committee (SWE) - is responsible for bringing a little fun and a sense of community to Team FCCS. Brand new co-chairs Kara Green and Cassandra Davala are working with site sub-committees to create a schedule of fun and informative events throughout the year.  Proposed events range from tailgate parties to chili cook-offs, walking clubs and meditation times, and cooking demonstrations, with support from ThriveOn. The highlight of the year is Health and Wellness Day at each building, when staff enjoy healthy food, exercise classes, wellness seminars, and more.   “Working in child welfare can be challenging,” said SWE co-chai...

Every member and every position in Team FCCS is seen as a child welfare professional, with a hope that each employee feels safe, supported, respected, and valued. Join us in celebrating our newest team members and honoring those who have been promoted. December 2024 CONGRATUALTIONS ON THESE PROMOTIONS & TRANSFERS: Kelly Evans - Child Welfare Caseworker 4/Screening Alyssa Veopaseuth - Child Welfare Caseworker 4/Screening Kimberly Giles - Administrative Assistant 1/Visitation & STS Department Qualene Carter - Child Welfare Caseworker Supervisor 2/Screening Faiza Abdi - Child Welfare Caseworker 2/Intake WELCOME TO THESE NEW EMPLOYEES: Rhyleigh Hilyard - Child Welfare Caseworker 1/Intake & Investigations Maritza Reid - Child Welfare Caseworker 1/Intake & Investigations Annika Smith - Child Welfare Caseworker 1/Intake & Investigations Caroline Vineyard - Child Welfare Caseworker 2/Intake & Investigations Sarah Weeks - Child Welfare Caseworker 1/Intake & Investiga...

The National Partnership for Child Safety (NPCS), a quality improvement collaborative with a mission to improve child safety and prevent child maltreatment fatalities, provided its 2024 year-end update on partnership activities related to strengthening families and promoting safety science and innovations in child welfare. To facilitate data-sharing across jurisdictions, NPCS incorporates tools such as the Safe Systems Improvement Tool (SSIT) which is a retrospective critical incident review tool designed for use in child welfare systems. Learnings from aggregated SSIT data can be leveraged into systems-level quality improvement as part of an evidence-based safety science approach to enhancing child safety.  Additional data analysis opportunities are available through the NPCS safety culture survey , which measures workforce domains, such as emotional exhaustion, psychological safety , stress recognition, and workplace connectedness , which can all contribute to team members’ decis...

Referral and retention bonuses are working to help FCCS attract and retain a strong workforce, while also allowing our agency to provide more consistent support to the children and families we serve. In fact, the most recently reported all-agency retention rate is hovering around 98%... and enlisting current employees to find friends who are qualified candidates to fill positions has helped with that number.  An FCCS employee who refers someone receives $500 after the person they recruited completes the employee screening process (typically 30 days after hire). They receive an additional $1,000 after their recruit completes the probationary period. All new employees are eligible to receive a hiring bonus of up to $1,500 with a $1, 000 pay out after completing the screening process and $500 after they’ve been with the agency for a year.  The hiring incentive plan - which aligns well with our Call to Action of Valuing our Team FCCS Culture - has been in place since 2022 and resu...

Every member and every position in Team FCCS is seen as a child welfare professional, with a hope that each employee feels safe, supported, respected, and valued. Join us in celebrating our newest team members and honoring those who have been promoted. November 2024 CONGRATUALTIONS ON THESE PROMOTIONS & TRANSFERS: Kaitlyn Franklin - Child Welfare Caseworker 4-Mentor/Intake & Investigations Patricia Williams - Purchasing Assistant 1/Contracts Lamont Fields - Information Technologist 2/Information Technology Summer Swank - Social Service Aide 2/Visitation & STS Department Kaitlin Messenger - Child Welfare Caseworker Supervisor 2/West Region WELCOME TO THESE NEW EMPLOYEES: Acacia Poindexter - Information System Administrator/Human Resources Irenalina Chantre - Contract Evaluator/Contracts  Taylor Smithey - Child Welfare Caseworker 2/Intake & Investigations Justin Roush - Building Maintenance Supervisor 1/Facilities Department Ebony Davis - Child Welfare Caseworker 1/In...

Destiny Saffell is all about building forever families. An adoptions assessor who has been on the FCCS Adoptions team since 2019, Destiny celebrated her very first adoption finalization recently - an emotional day she will never forget.  During November’s National Adoption Month recognition, Team FCCS celebrates the love, support, safety, and sense of belonging for a child who finds a “forever family” and we honor the work of our dedicated adoptions caseworkers who strive to create these lasting family connections.  Destiny was able to help two sisters, ages 11 and 13, stay connected to their beloved siblings and join their longtime foster family permanently back in July.  “To see the kids’ faces and know that I was there for every step of it as a caseworker, it was very exciting,” she shared. “This is their forever home, and to be a part of that is amazing.”  “One thing I will always remember,” Saffell adds, “is that as the family left the courtroom, the parents tol...