Three Cheers for Youth! ~Ann Kalass, CEO

February 27, 2015 Volume 7, Issue 1

STARFISH FAMILY SERVICES

Employees with a passion to make a difference for over 50 years

StarGazer

Strengthening families to create brighter futures for children

StarGazer Editors:

Pam Lincoln

(plincoln@sfish.org)

Theresa Hanaway

(thanaway@sfish.org)

The Starfish

Description:

Founded in 1963,

S t a r f i s h F a m i l y

S e r v i c e s i s a

c o m m u n i t y - b a s e d

nonprofit organization

serving thousands of

vulnerable children

and families annually

in metro Detroit.

Our passion is early

c h i l d h o o d

development. We

strive every day to

p r e p a r e y o u n g

chi ldren for a

successful start to

school. Our programs

and services uniquely

recognize and respect

the important role of

parents and other

caregivers in the long-

term success of

children.

T his month I’d like to recognize the Youth

Services Department for all their efforts

and accomplishments.

While many of us have been busy launching

new early childhood programs and positioning

our mental health services for long-term

success, a mighty and committed team

known as the Youth Services Steering

Committee, guided by David Cardinal and

Marisa Nicely, have been working behind the

scenes to strengthen our youth programs and

develop a comprehensive and long-term

strategy to serve local youth.

The steering committee has developed a

strategic framework to better align our Youth

Services division with our agency’s focus on

prevention and strength-based programming.

Some highlights of their accomplishments

include:

Completely renovated youth services

building, otherwise known as the Starfish

Shelter and Crisis Center. A grand re-

opening for our board, community

stakeholders, and donors will be held on

Tuesday, March 10th. Thank you to program

staff and the support services team for

bringing this beautiful renovation to life!

Among other things, the basement has

been remodeled to accommodate more

group programs and social activities.

Well-utilized respite program at the shelter

where children in the mental health system

can seek safe and enriching stay as part of

their treatment plan.

Launch of new services to reconfigure the

youth programming array to include more

preventative and Youth Development

programs. One highlight is the Michigan

Adolescent Pregnant and Parenting

Program (MIAPPP), better known at

Starfish as The Parenthood Program, that

has already exceeded all of our program

expectations and received expanded

funding from the Michigan Department of

Community Health.

At the same time, our after school

programming has strengthened in

partnership with Westwood Community

Schools; and our mental health services

and counseling programs to support youth

have grown through things like new

outpatient services in Inkster and more and

more therapists attaining national

credentials in trauma-informed practices.

This month, the Youth Services team will

present their excellent work to the Starfish

board who I know will embrace their ideas and

congratulate the team on

their excellent work.

Way to go, everyone!

New Kitchen at the Starfish Shelter & Crisis Center

Page 2

W e hope you like our refreshed logo.

Reason for the change:

Our previous logo color was difficult for printers to

reproduce uniformly, and this often resulted in great

variability in how our logo looked depending where

and on what material it was printed. Also, due to the

specialized logo color, we would often incur additional

costs.

The new logo color resolves these issues and is more

easily reproduced. It is also more vibrant and

contemporary.

Action requested:

Effective immediately, please delete all old logo files

you may have and only use the updated logos shown

below. The logos can be found on the shared drive

via the following path: Y:\General\Logo's\Starfish

Logos or Y:\Marketing\Logos

Refer to the logo guide for usage instructions. The

guide can be found Y:\General\Logo’s\Starfish

Logos\Starfish 2015 Logo Guide 1.16.15

When ordering from a printer, please contact Starfish

Marketing as we have slightly different logo files for

use with coated paper.

Importantly, use all existing printed materials with the

old logo before using the new logo. NO EXISTING

MATERIALS SHOULD BE DISPOSED OF DUE TO THE

CHANGE IN LOGO. As you will see, the change is very

subtle, and we don’t want to incur any unnecessary

costs due to this change.

Please don’t hesitate to email or call Shalina Rankin,

Marketing at srankin@sfish.org, or ext. 3498 with

questions.

Thanks!

StarGazer

O nly a couple of more days to cast your vote for

Starfish!

Starfish has been nominated as one of three finalists in

the IKEA Life Improvement Challenge. This Challenge

gives Starfish the chance to win a makeover from IKEA in

our Lifespan clinics. This makeover will help us create a

space that is functional, inviting and well-designed — a

place our community can feel welcome and comfortable.

The great part is that the only thing we have to do to win

is "Vote"! Each person can submit one vote per day from

Feb. 16-March 2nd, so be sure to click on http://

sgiz.mobi/s3/11003a3e5fd7 and vote daily. Be sure to

choose the CANTON site in order to vote for

Starfish. Please also spread the word to friends/family by

forwarding this e-mail or sharing our Facebook post.

Our participation in this contest was mentioned in a

r e c e n t C r a i n ’ s D e t r o i t a r t i c l e : h t t p : / /

w w w . c r a i n s d e t r o i t . c o m / a r t i c l e / 2 0 1 5 0 2 1 9 /

BLOG009/150219807/nonprofits-look-to-drum-up-votes-

for-office-and-furniture-makeovers Now that the world

knows we are competing, we must win!

As many of you remember, we won a similar contest a

few years ago to receive a re-model for the Hiveley office

and with everyone's support we are confident we can do it

again!

Logo Update ~Shalina Rankin, Marketing

IKEA Life Improvement Challenge ~Shalina Rankin, Marketing

Page 3

StarGazer

Celebrating Successes in the Classroom! ~ Carrie Moore, Julie Hanna and Karen Roback

J anuary 23, 2015 was a day of celebration! Starfish

staff, 67 to be exact, came together to celebrate the

successes in our early childhood classrooms. Staff from

across the organization, including Head Start; Early Head

Start; Great Start Readiness Program; Early Learning

Communities; Lifespan; Quality, Evaluation, and

Innovation; Information Technology; and Executive

Leadership all gathered to share, listen, and learn. During

our time together, we reviewed the classrooms’ Program

Quality Assessment (PQA) and Child Observation Record

(COR) Advantage data as a starting point for discussion.

PQA measures classroom quality, and COR Advantage

measures child development in a number of areas that

are related to school readiness.

The data was overall very positive. PQA data showed that

our teachers are very skilled in their ability to plan

meaningful activities and interactions with children on a

daily basis. Teachers are intentional in their planning

which is very crucial to later success in children’s school

experience. Children did well across all COR Advantage

Categories, but additional planning around Language,

Literacy, and Math would be beneficial in all early

childhood programs.

Everyone contributed to make this a great success. The

event coordination team worked to plan logistics (and

make sure that there would be cupcakes). The QEI

department analyzed the data. Teaching staff volunteered

to take the lead in sharing their experiences. Classroom

reviewers discussed innovative strategies that they have

observed in classrooms. And everyone who attended

actively participated and networked with peers to help

each other. As a learning organization, we collectively

strategized ideas and activities to support one another in

our efforts to maintain and raise the quality in our early

childhood classrooms. As a result, a document of

learning activities was created and shared amongst all

early childhood staff. This was truly a peer-learning event,

and we look forward to the second round in April to go

over how we did mid-year. Don’t miss it!

2015 StarGazer

Deadlines

March 20

April 17

May 15

June 19

July 17

August 21

September 18

October 16

November 20

December 11

StarGazer Deadlines for 2015 ~Pam Lincoln, Administration

StarGazer

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Surveys are a Powerful Evaluation Tool! ~ Julie Hanna & Katie Larder, Quality , Evaluation & Innovation Department

StarGazer StarGazer

S urveys are a great way to get feedback from clients,

staff, the community, or stakeholders on any number

of topics. Sometimes a survey is publicly available that

has already been developed and validated. Other times,

you may need to develop your own survey to meet your

particular needs. Over the past few months, the QEI

department has collaborated with different Starfish

programs to come up with solutions for gathering

information via survey.

For example…

PEP was interested in gathering more rigorous

outcomes on the impact of the program, so we

searched and found the Parenting Young Children

(PARYC), which is a validated survey that was

developed at University of Oregon and measures

parenting behavior. The PEP team has administered

the survey twice since last September, so we are

excited to gather the third and final set of surveys in

April and analyze the data to see the impact!

The Youth Services Strategy Team wanted to gather

information from youth currently in services at

Starfish as well as youth in the community to share

ideas about their interests in services and help inform

the strategic planning. We worked with the team to

develop a survey that meets their needs, and the

youth services team is currently administering the

survey, with over 80 surveys already being collected

in just a couple weeks.

Lifespan Infant Mental Health (IMH) supervisors have

been piloting Reflective Supervision with early

childhood teachers and supervisors since last fall and

want to make sure to gather meaningful information

about their participation to determine how useful it is.

We collaborated with the IMH supervisors and were

very grateful to have the participation of a board

member, LaShorage Shaffer, to develop a succinct

survey that will be administered at the last session in

the spring.

The Performance Quality Improvement (PQI)

Committee and QEI led the initiative to revise the

Starfish Client Satisfaction Survey, which was

administered in December. Based on input from

program staff, we developed a set of core questions

and added specific questions about parent

opportunities as well as program-specific questions.

We are working on analyzing the data and will share

results with everyone soon.

Here are a few tips that can increase the accuracy and

validity of your surveys depending on what you’re trying to

measure.

1. Keep It Short and Sweet

The average survey respondent maxes out about 5-10

minutes into a survey. When a survey is too long,

three things can happen: Respondents stop paying

attention, get irritated, or just stop taking the survey.

2. Use Closed-Ended Responses When Possible

Try to avoid simple yes/no responses. Instead use

multiple choice responses or rating scales that

measure the direction and intensity of opinions.

3. But… Always Give the Opportunity for Open-Ended

Responses

Closed-ended responses have benefits, but allowing

respondents to provide feedback in their own words

gives a much deeper understanding.

4. Test Your Survey

Ask a few colleagues or members of your target

audience to take the survey to make sure that it is

clear.

5. Incentives Work!

When possible, offer a small incentive for completing

the survey. The research shows that incentives

increase response rates by about 50%.

If you would like assistance creating a survey or analyzing

survey results, feel free to reach out to Julie or Katie in the

QEI department!

Julie Hanna jhanna@sfish.org

Katie Larder klarder@sfish.org

To get to Starfish, of course!

Believe it or not, on a cold afternoon this past

January, Mr. Chicken paid a visit to the Hiveley

Building. Much to everyone’s surprise, he

walked right up to the front door! Starfish

Marketing Manager, Shalina Rankin, gave him

a warm welcome. HR Director Liz Mitropoulos

gave him some food, and he went home with

a family who owned a farm! Life is good at

Starfish even if you’re a chicken.

Knock, Knock.

Who’s there?

Chicken.

Chicken who?

Just chicken to see who’s there!

Page 5

StarGazer StarGazer

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Jenna Voeks—Lifespan

Kendra Kehl-Fie—Lifespan

Don’t forget...the form can be found:

Y:\General\Human Resources\Forms\Star

Performer Report.doc.

Submit your Star Performer today!

Star Performers ~Human Resources Dept.

StarGazer

Organizing with Rose ~ Rose Coletti, Administrative Assistant

TELLING YOURSELF - I DON’T HAVE THE

TIME TO DECLUTTER, THINK AGAIN!

If you compare the number of messy

areas in your home/office with the

number of free hours in your day,

organizing can seem overwhelming,

making it harder to get started. Instead

of focusing on the big picture, ask

yourself what you can do right now to get one step

closer to creating order. Then take a few minutes to

clear the mail and other paperwork off your desk. You

will instantly feel more in control. If you start small, it’s

easy to get motivated.

Hang in there...Spring is coming!!

Reading Network—

What Are You Reading?

What are you

reading?

The Money Book for

the Young, Fabulous,

& Broke by Suze

Orman

What inspired you to

read it?

As a young woman,

the title of the book

seemed to speak

directly to me and

my current situation. However fabulous I claim or desire

to be, broke would also be a fitting description.

As a wife and mother of three, financial stability is among

my most frequent thoughts. In the perfect world, I could

ensure that my family is constantly surrounded by love

and never concerned about finances. In the real world,

time is limited and financial stability is a balancing act.

What was the most interesting “take away” from the

book?

The most interesting “take away” from the book for me is

the importance of a cash emergency fund account. My

husband and I have a saving account, but until recently,

we did not have an amount of money put away

specifically for cash emergencies. Saving this additional

amount required a new level of commitment and self-

control.

What connections are there between the book and your

role at Starfish?

This book highlighted the value of financial literacy

programming in 21st Century Afterschool Programs and

the need for young people to understand money

management. Also, the book encouraged career mobility

while in the “20-somethings” age range to find the best

career and not settle.

What similar books have you read that you would also

recommend?

This was my first financial literacy book, but a friend

recommended “The Millionaire Next Door” by Thomas J.

Stanley and William D. Danko.

Chatana Campbell is a Site Supervisor at Starfish’s 21st Century

Community Learning Center—Westwood.

Page 6

StarGazer

Grand Rapids, Here We Come! ~Emily Paffenroth, ELC Program Manager

O ver the summer four of our ELC team

members applied to be presenters at

the Michigan AEYC Conference in April. By

January most of us had already forgotten that

we had submitted applications which made

for an incredibly surprising week as the

presentation acceptance letters started to roll through the

Hiveley mailroom. I am incredibly proud to say that each

presentation application that was submitted by the

Starfish ELC team was accepted and on April 23rd we will

be hitting the road to head to Grand Rapids to represent

our organization and the community!

I’ve spent so much of my professional career facilitating

trainings and presenting in front of groups of people that I

sometimes forget that not everyone gets excited about the

prospect of speaking in front of a room full of strangers. I

am lucky to have a team that embraces this part of our

programming and makes an extra effort to push

themselves outside of their comfort zones to build new

skills and make some connections outside of western

Wayne County. It’s great to see the excitement build as the

team finalizes each presentation and they start realizing

how big of an impact they actually have in this field. If

you’ll be at the MiAEYC Conference check out: Stephanie’s

Preschool Social Studies and Cooking with Kids

presentations, Susan’s No Child Left Inside:

Connecting Kids with Nature presentation

or come see Julie and I present on

Leadership: No Matter What Your Job Title

Is. We’d love to see some Starfish faces in

the crowd!

StarGazer

Riding Along with Mom! ~By Daisy Truss, Outreach Coordinator

B e sure to check out our new

u p d a t e d w e b s i t e

InksterFLM.org There’s more

learning fun with Jay! You can

select a Read Along With Jay

book and watch a video to learn

about healthy food choices,

shapes, and colors – all while

exploring wonderful adventures.

You can even print a copy of the book

and follow along with the video. It’s

fun for the whole family!

Page 7

StarGazer StarGazer

You’ve been asking about it; I’ll tell you what it is!

W hat is Integrated Health Care, and why would I choose an Integrated Health

Care center for my physical health needs? I am so glad you asked that

question!

Now, I know that you’ve heard this saying before (when expressing something

awesome) but I just have to say, that Integrated Health Care is [by far] the best

thing since sliced bread. Integrated Health Care is simply just what it says; it’s

integrating healthcare. Its adding physical healthcare plus mental healthcare to get a

sum of whole healthcare. When I think about the benefits of Integrated Health Care I

think about the patient that comes into the doctor’s office for a physical, has a family history of heart disease, high

blood pressure, and stroke, and needs some assistance with smoking cessation… Integrated health helps with that. I

think about the patient who’s morbidly obese and understands the importance of losing weight but just doesn’t know

where to start… Integrated health helps with that. I think about the patient that comes to the doctor for chronic back

pain and body aches with no identifiable PHYSICAL cause, but indicates social and relational issues, housing concerns,

and family stress… integrated health helps with that. I think about the patient diagnosed with cancer who is distraught.

This patient doesn’t know how to feel about the diagnosis, nor does this patient know how to disclose this information

to family and friends… integrated health helps with that also. Most passionately, I think about the pregnant patient that

comes to a pre-natal appointment with pregnancy complications. This patient reports no appetite, insomnia, and

eventually… a significant history of trauma dating back to childhood, and reports anxiety and depression that has never

been addressed. Guess what… Integrated health helps with that as well.

Integrated Health Care helps with all of the above mentioned scenarios (and so many more) because when a healthcare

center is integrated, a patient is evaluated on a level that no medical doctor, behavioral health professional, or

addictions specialist can do on their own. The focus of a visit in an Integrated Health Care facility, is having different

professionals come together to address a patient as a whole being to simply help that patient feel better. So, when

asked “why would I choose an Integrated Health Care center” my answer is, it just makes sense, so why not?

What is Integrated Health Care?

~Kristine Wiley, Lifespan

T his memo serves to inform our stakeholders that as of 4/1/15, the Starfish Supervised Independent Living Program

(SIL) will no longer be in operation.

This decision was made due to changes in the operating environment that have made it difficult for agencies such as

ours, that do not have a solid continuum of foster care programs, to maintain an adequate census in SIL. In the past two

years we have seen our referrals go down resulting in an historic program enrollment average of 18-20 youth to our

current census of 4.

Starfish will ensure that youth currently enrolled in the program will be successfully transitioned to other SIL providers,

and we will continue to provide other support services such as mental health, groups and active case management, as

appropriate.

If you have any questions about this transition or other program and services available through the Starfish Youth

Department please contact David Cardinal, Youth Services Manager, at dcardinal@sfish.org or at 313-563-5005.

Starfish Supervised Independent Living Program

~Marisa Nicely, VP of Clinical & Youth Services

StarGazer

StarGazer

Volunteer Program Update! ~ Cheryl Majeske, Volunteer Resource Specialist

A letter from a volunteer:

Volunteer ing should be

enjoyed. Through Starfish

Family Services I find myself

enjoying each and every day I

am there with the kids. I am a

full time student with a full

time job and I managed to

squeeze in some hours at

Starfish. I only wish I could be

there many more days.

Through Oakland University I

was given this opportunity to have an internship with

Starfish. I was welcomed with arms wide open, from the

staff and all the children. I may only be there two days a

week but the organization and the staff enjoy and need

me there. I help out with the Early Head Start program

along with the Head Start program. Both programs are

rewarding to me. I’ve learned so much through the

teachers I’ve shadowed and from the children.

I am at Starfish on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On

Tuesdays I have the pleasure of working with the Early

Head Start classrooms and on Thursdays I am with the

Head Start classroom. I can’t stress how much help they

need in both rooms. I help the children learn, play and

grow into wonderful kids that are ready for kindergarten.

The Early Head Start programs focus on independence

and using words. I’ve watched many of these two year

olds not talk to start using their words and forming

sentences. Watching these children grow up through my

eyes makes me feel so accomplished and overjoyed to

be part of their lives. The Head Start rooms I feel the

same accomplishments just in different ways. Here the

teachers make learning fun and have different activities

intertwined throughout the day to help them with a

schedule and to be ready for kindergarten by the time

they are five or six.

I love volunteering at Starfish and am overjoyed that I

have become a part of many of these children’s lives.

Watching all the teachers in action is pure amazement.

Many days they need my help, and would like more

volunteers. Being a part of the Starfish community has

made me look at things in a different light. I am

overjoyed to help out there and can’t wait until Tuesdays

or Thursdays!

-Julie Fox, Early Head Start and Head Start Volunteer

StarGazer

T hanks to ELC volunteer, Patricia, Hiveley was

awarded free coffee and donuts from Tim Horton’s

on Thursday, February 19, courtesy of WOMC. Patricia

nominated the hard

working staff of

Starfish to receive the

Ultimate Coffee Break.

WOMC has been

serving hard working

people of Metro Detroit

with the Ultimate Coffee

Break for over 10 years

and Starfish got to reap

the benefits! A huge thank

you to WOMC, Tim Horton’s

and Patricia for making this happens! It was the perfect

way to warm up on a chilly morning!

Housekeeping:

Please remember to turn in your volunteer time

sheets! Don’t be shy if you are few months behind– I

will still take them!

Head Start: Please make sure your volunteers are

signing in when they enter your classroom.

If you are looking for volunteers, please let me know

sooner than later so I can help provide you with a

volunteer that would be the best fit for your

program.

Remember to say Thank You!

I look forward to working with all of you! Please contact

me at: cmajeske@sfish.org or ext. 3491.

Page 8

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DEPARTURES*

StarGazer

Happy Starfish Anniversary

March 2015!

ARRIVALS*

Happy Birthday

March 2015!

StarGazer

*as of 2/18/15

TRANSFERS* (SEE BACK PAGE)

StarGazer

Charmaine Land 03-02

Martha Vela 03-02

Mary Gallagher 03-05

Lindsay West 03-06

Kellee Brown 03-07

Jade Miller 03-07

Corlis Brown-Lloyd 03-08

Jana Feherpataky 03-08

Dominek Jackson 03-08

Jennifer Jonika 03-09

Chasity Brewer 03-10

Ashley Pierce 03-10

Chelsey Vanden Esschert 03-10

Haifa Daoud 03-11

Janine Jagodzinski 03-11

Lia Runyon 03-11

Tomika Rolle 03-13

Gloria Gibson 03-14

Cathy Anderson 03-15

Alyssa Okey 03-17

Nicole Brown 03-19

Karol Wilson 03-19

Crystal Brown 03-22

Angela Long 03-24

Christin Perry-Michalik 03-27

David Cardinal 03-29

Jenna Sielaff 03-29

Arlene Reese 03-30

Daisy Truss 03-31

Tammy Coker 03-31-2003 12 years

Sylvia Adams 03-15-2004 11 years

Alexandria Torres 03-23-2005 10 years

Deborah Ruppel 03-19-2007 8 years

Cortney Bugar 03-20-2007 8 years

Natalia Barna 03-17-2008 7 years

Danekkie Stewart 03-31-2008 7 years

Nina Burgess 03-20-2009 6 years

Audra Spikes 03-20-2009 6 years

Patricia Thornsbury 03-24-2009 6 years

Stacie Marentette 03-30-2009 6 years

Rachael Druyor 03-30-2011 4 years

Diane Hayward 03-05-2012 3 years

Jennifer Brooks 03-12-2012 3 years

David Smith 03-14-2012 3 years

Nancy Mihalik 03-26-2012 3 years

Michelle Riggs 03-03-2014 1 year

Vanessa Kelley 03-10-2014 1 year

Daisy Truss 03-12-2014 1 year

Amieka Thornton 03-17-2014 1 year

Stacey Woods 03-17-2014 1 year

Duaa Alhassan Head Start - Crestwood

Andrea Anderson 21st Century - Westwood

Oralee Baumeister Head Start - Administration

Brooke Bendix Lifespan

LaTanya Cross Lifespan

Katy Czarnecki EHS - Hiveley

Chelsea Hunt Preschool Program of Excellence

Jacqueline Kuehn Early Learning Communities

Pamela Nions Kellogg

Alayna Ohneck Head Start - Crestwood

Katherine Oleksiak Lifespan

Brittany Sampier Lifespan

Tamara Shirey Lifespan

Steven Slayton Administration

Lisa Swanson Administration

Matthew Alexander 21st Century - Westwood

Laprisha Berry Vaughn Social Innovation

Crystal Brown Head Start - Delegate

Kelsey Hadyniak Head Start - Livonia

Janine Jagodzinski Head Start - Crestwood

Paul Johnson Head Start - Delegate

Audrey Nelson Lifespan

Danielle Nicholls Lifespan

Shannon Starks Starfish Shelter

Lindsay West Lifespan

Page 10

StarGazer StarGazer StarGazer

*as of 2/18/15

TRANSFERS*

StarGazer

Emili Ganser

from ELC Parent Group Facilitator to Lifespan Outpatient Case Manager

Lora Gilliam

from On Call Bus Aide to Part Time Bus Aide

Tiara Millender

from On Call Bus Aide to Part Time Bus Aide

Jung Nichols

from Lifespan Lead Integrated Health Therapist to Project Supervisor

Caitlin Rigato

from Outpatient Therapist to Outpatient Coordinator

Dawn Ruggaber

from Part Time to Full Time Administrative Support Lifespan

Carlene Stewart

from Transportation Dispatcher/Material Handler Head Start to Program Assistant Birth to Five