Long Range Planning Committee three-year plan, 1990

Long Range Plan - 3 Years Introduction Jewish Family Service Agency, a counseling and social service organization is committed to preserve, protect and enhance the lives of families. Recognizing that state and local governments have assumed the major welfare role in our society, Jp'SA focuses on the provision of highly skilled counseling, case management for the elderly and disabled, and educational programs as the most effective means of carrying out its mandate to strengthen healthy family life. Professional counseling is helpful in enabling individuals and families to resolve difficult relationships, situational stresses and life stage milestones that create instability or cause family crises. When speaking of family, the agency includes all of the alternative styles of Inmily structure Lliat exist, including single individuals, single parent families and remarried families. Purpose of Agency Services In recognition of the stresses created by the current economic and social environment, JFSA places greater emphasis in support of preventive rather than remedial services; on serving people in their own homes in an effort to prevent their need for institutional care; on the emergency needs of the indigent, displaced, and the aged; on the continuing problems of the disabled; on families under stress; on children with problems who can be helped in their own home; and on the consequences of family breakdown, divorce, etc. Page 2 . Service Area JFSA serves the people of Southern Nevada with the largest number of its clients coming from metropolitan Las Vegas and surrounding communities. The agency's planning takes into consideration that this geographic area includes an estimated 585,000 persons who are eligible for the agency's se rvi ces . Mission Statement The Jewish Family Service Agency is a non-profit social service agency formed to provide a service in the community heretofore non-existent, a service more acceptable to and compatible with the ethnicity of Jewish and other peoples. To extend our belief that each individual is entitled to be fu11-functioning self-sufficient and independent, we provide family and individual counseling emergency financial assistance and other supportive social services. With our help, members of the Jewish community and others are assisted to: (1) Resolve family and other social conflicts, (2) Deal with stress constructively, (3) Achieve economic independence, (4) Become integrated into the American culture from refugee status (5) Become informed of basic developmental knowledge which will prepare them to cope with future behavioral, emotional and physical demands of life. Service Needs A. Counseling and case-management remain the agency's core services. As families adapt to "future shock" and the increased pressures in society the agency needs to develop services to the single parent family, the Page 3 . Service Needs Continued remarried family and the childless family-adoption. This will require additional staff. Case Management - Services to the elderly remain a high priority of the agency. The agency needs to create services which will help to maintain the elderly in their own homes as long as possible. These services may include home health aides, transportation-escort services, and whopping services. Nevada's senior citizen population has increased 112% between 1970 and 1980 with the majority of the elderly migrations settling in the Clark County area. Suzanne Ernst, Director of the Office of Aging, states that in 1980 over six hundred (600) seniors a month come to Las Vegas. Currently, five new retirement centers are being planned for the Clark County area. These units will bring over 100,000 individuals to Clark County, who although financially secure, will experience the process of aging and need social services and planning. Services to the elderly are of a protective nature. Suicide rates are highest in old age: twenty percent (20%) of the population is over sixty (60), but forty per cent (40%) of suicidal victims are over sixty (60) years of age. After age seventy-five (75) the suicide rate is three times the average. Case Management Services refers to assisting a client (individual or family) to manage environmental needs by assessing which social services are needed and then obtaining those services for the client. The social worker then assumes a coordinative role, that is, the worker enables the various services to work together cooperatively to enhance the client's skills. Adoptions Pursuant to the agency's mission statement Jewish Family Service Agency needs to facilitate the adoption of Jewish children by Jewish families. This can only be done by increasing agency visibility in this area. The agency would work with Nevada State Welfare in order to facilitate adoptions of children to families of their own ethnic background. Single Parents Due to stress of the Las Vegas casino economy, i.e., splitshifts, latchkey children, availability of drugs, job insecurity, the resultant family break-ups have created many single parent families. The agency has received increased applications from single parent families; usually a female headed family with children as a result of Page 4 . Single Parents Continued marital breakup. Single parent families have special needs which the agency must address. Outreach services need to be addressed to this sevice group. Volunteers The agency recognizes the inherent value of volunteerism as an integral part of a private voluntary agency within the community. The goal of the agency is to hire a full time volunteer coordinator. The agency has a volunteer corps of over forty (40) volunteers. Funding and Finance Although the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas and the United Way remain the major sources of the agency's income, the agency recognizes that these funds must be supplemented without jeopardizing the agency's autonomy. The agency should seek third party payments and continue its active pursuit of grants from foundations for specific projects to supplement the basic funding from the Federation and United Way. Staff In order to enhance community service, the agency needs in the near future will be for a new counselor, a case-aide to serve the elderly, a full time volunteer coordinator, and a part-time transportation aide. The immediate plan for the agency is to enhance its stability and strengthen services to the community. Facilities As the community and agency services grow the agency needs to plan for additional space. This should be explored at our present location and other possible resources. Community The purpose of JFSA services is to support and enhance the relationship between United Way and the Jewish community to promote social services to the people of Las Vegas. Page 5 Summary The Long Range Plan of JFSA hopes to establish a systematic plan as to how the agency will serve the Las Vegas Community in the next three (3) years. The agency hopes to: 1. increase its office space by 560 square feet; 2. add a family counselor 3. add additional staff to serve the elderly, and 4. increase family life education programs. In this way, JFSA will strengthen its foundations, provide social services to the cariTTunity and enhance positive family growth.