Our Strategic Plan

Action Step 1.1

Agency name change:

The agency name should be changed to be more consistent with Catholic Charities USA to: Catholic Charities of Southeastern MA, or Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fall River.

Action Step 1.2

Re-brand Catholic Social Services.

The CSS management team, in conjunction with external consultants for this strategic planning process, should develop sense of organizational clarity and, using this clarity as a jumping off point, develop a detailed re-branding/marketing plan to introduce the new name, Logo, Mission, Vision, and services of the newly identified Catholic Charities as a means of re-defining the agency’s purpose and establishing priorities – philosophy of care, purpose statement, service delivery, new mission, vision, and core values statements, going forward.

Based on feedback from focus groups and stakeholders, particular attention should be paid to Catholic Charities presence on Cape Cod relative to agency presence, service delivery. The range of collaborative relationships should include other Diocesan entities.

Action Step 1.3

Collaborate with other service providers.

Many parishioners suggested that CSS partner with Saint Vincent’s Services, Inc. to expand services for mental health services within existing programs and supplement new programs. Collaboration with Saint Vincent’s Services relative to the development of mental health and behavioral services – and in order to meet the needs of a broad age spectrum of children and adults – is readily available pending recruitment and hiring of clinical staff and identification of appropriate satellite sites within the Diocese.

Action Step 1.4

Develop a new revised website.

The above changes should be reflected in a new and revised Website which is dynamic and user-friendly.

Action Step 1.5

Renew Mission and Vision Statements.

Catholic Social Services should conduct an internal process involving staff in working groups from the roots up to define an appropriate Mission and Vision statement, which reflects the work and values of the agency, its staff, diverse clients and its defined purpose. One potential Mission Statement could be:

Motivated by the Gospel message (OR by the example of Jesus Christ) and recognizing the sanctity and diversity of human life, Catholic Charities responds to the basic needs of the most vulnerable in our community with compassionate care, and respect for the dignity of each individual.

One potential Vision Statement could be:

As a ministry of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River and a leading provider of social services in the Southeastern Region of MA, Catholic Charities is committed to providing resources to support positive family life and compassionate care to foster hope, respect, and empowerment for all who are in need.

Potential Mission Tag Line or Descriptor:

Love Made Visible

Action Step 1.6

Rebuild the Board

The existing Board of Catholic Social Services is currently constituted by clergy who have met on an annual basis- and in response to the call for any periodic or special additional meetings to address specific issues.

It is recommended that the Executive Director, Bishop da Cunha and current members of the Board identify the skill sets needed on the Board and present appropriate candidates for vetting and review with Bishop da Cunha. Candidates should be qualified, reflect the diversity of the communities served (including formerly homeless individuals) and bring value-added skill set(s) to the governance function(s) of the Board.

Bishop da Cunha has established that Board structure may include fewer clergy, but will include as ex officio members and officers the following: Bishop, President and Treasurer; Vicar General, Vice President, Moderator of Curia, Secretary. A lay person designated by the Bishop could serve as Chair of the Board.

The current by-laws of the agency allow for maximum membership on the Board of 15 members.  It should be decided by the Board whether this is a satisfactory or effective maximum of members.

 Action Step 1.7

Reestablish appropriate governance responsibilities.

A position description should be developed for Board members, which defines functions, responsibilities and accountability. Board meetings should be regularly scheduled on at least a quarterly basis with the day and time to be determined and changes made to the by-laws accordingly.

Orientation of new board members should be conducted with the addition of each board member.  It may be helpful to provide an orientation to current board members relative to the specific agency-related documentation, policies and procedures, and requirements, which may have been changed/updated since current board members joined the board.

A Board of Directors Manual should be developed and used for orientation of new Board members to include, but not be limited to, as deemed appropriate:

Mission Statement

Vision Statement Core Values

IRS Non-Profit Determination

Insurance Coverages

Board Position Description

Agency Memberships/License(s)

Member List

Corporation By-Laws

CEO Position Description

Strategic Plan

Program Descriptions

Philosophy of Care

Organizational Chart

Current Operating Budget

Current Audited Financial Statements

Agency Confidentiality Policy

Conflict of Interest Policy & Disclosure Form

Action Step 1.8

Review and update the organization’s by-laws.

CSS management team and board members should review current by-laws and update them to reflect changes and re-structuring, and policies and procedures that have been implemented through this planning process as well as current agency practice.  Current by-laws were last reviewed and approved on November 22, 1976.  Changes to organization by-laws will require board approval.

Action Step 2.1  

Employee engagement: enhance employee morale and retention.

HR and Finance Office will collaborate on strategies to address some of the concerns expressed by the CSS staff regarding working conditions, financial compensation, workplace culture, and employee morale. One of the recommendations that is going to be implemented is adding an Employee Assistance Program (already done!) as a benefit to all CSS employees. Another consideration is to develop strategies that promote professional development and create a culture in which employees feel that opportunity exists for career growth within CSS; the EAP program will have a training component to it, e.g. supervisor training.

Another important step towards providing structure and clarity for CSS employees is the creation of robust HR policies. CSS is currently engaging with a vendor (Foley and Foley) to help tailor HR policies that are compatible with the diverse programming and staffing patterns that currently exist in the agency.

Plan is to select a vendor and roll out an EAP plan by the start of Fiscal Year 2020; the service/benefit will be made available to all employees and their family members. The HR policies development is projected to start at the beginning of the fiscal year and finalized within 3-4 months. Implementation and training of CSS department managers and supervisors will be prioritized, followed by the front-line staff; the roll out and implementation timeline for the HR policies is likely take 2 months.

HR Director will drive the procurement and assess the EAP vendor’s services align with CSS agency goals and mission. Once a vendor is selected, through collaboration with the CSS Management Team, HR Director will be responsible for the roll-out plan, including training staff on the benefits of this service.  The CSS Management team will review and discuss HR policy needs and direct the HR Director and VP of Finance to finalize the procurement and planning necessary to begin the process of revamping the agency’s human resources procedures.

CSS will procure this benefit program for its employees; the cost per employee is minimal. CSS is choosing to invest in services that will help with employee retention and to assist with the long-term goal of changing the agency culture towards transparency, cooperation, and engagement at all levels.

HR will design employee surveys that will be administered on a semi-annual basis to assess employee morale. HR and Finance will also track employee turnover rates on a monthly/quarterly basis to analyze if there are any developing trends in regard to the EAP’s effect on retention. The metric to be used in regard to the HR Policies will be that is gets completed in a timely manner; CSS aims to begin the 2020 calendar year on solid footing when it comes to human resources policies.

Action Step 2.2 

Reorganize CSS organization structure (See Appendix Org Chart)

Currently there is a gap in middle management – insufficient personnel to oversee a program service grouping, which may be a contributing factor in some of the concerns voiced about communication, employee morale, and disconnect from management.

The Subcommittee is recommending that the agency be restructured in a way that will greatly improve the service delivery and support the mission of the agency. Currently, the VP of Program Services is in charge of ten departments/programs/services; this Subcommittee believes that this structure is not conducive to providing effective oversight to the performance of these programs and services.

Recommendation is to group program/services by Departments:

• Housing/homeless services (homeless shelters, PSH) under one Director of Shelters and Housing
• ESG and Basic Needs services under one Director of Financial Assistance
• Immigration and ESL services under one Director of Immigrant Services
• Disabilities, Adoption, and Housing Counseling services under Director of Community Services

and by region:

• Programs services by geography: creating Regional Director positions responsible for the various services provided in their respective catchment areas.

The process of reorganizing CSS should occur once the final recommendations are made by the strategic planning Subcommittee; the aim is to have the complete structure in place by March 2020.

Chancery, CEO of CSS and the Management Team will all be involved in developing a strategy on priority of hire – based on most immediate need, and other human resource related items. CSS would need to able to support these initiatives financially for the long-term; this new expenditure structure would need to get support from the Chancery and from other potential funding sources (fundraising, new grant sources etc..) in order to be sustainable.

Action Step 2.3 

Re-evaluate current programs/contracts for profit/impact; CSS should develop a process to assess when and if to terminate services/programs.

CSS Management Team should review program performance on a quarterly basis; this would allow the team to review current and previous fiscal years’ financial and programmatic performance on all the services objectively. The aim is to evaluate the service/programs consistently and using a standard process; it would also require the CSS Management Team to establish a clear mission for the agency and identify how each service/program fits into that mission as well as identify the Key Performance Indicators for each service/program as designed.

CSS Management Team should start implementing this process during the first quarter of the next fiscal year; this would allow the team to begin implementing this approach.

CSS Management Team will be responsible for holding these quarterly performance/profitability meetings to review programs and services. VP of Finance will compile all financial data and VP of Program Services will report on all issues related to the impact of the service or program: e.g. number of individuals served versus number of individuals rejected, need for the service based on volume rather than eligibility, how service aligns with mission of CSS and how connected are these services to the parishes. HR Director will provide information regarding any employee issues that may affect the performance and delivery of the service to the population it aims to serve: i.e. turnover in case management staff impacts reach of service, use of contracted personnel may affect profit and loss for program/service. CSS Management Team will utilize an impact/profitability matrix; in addition, monthly financial reports with year-to-date figures and year-end projections will be provided to aid in the discussion.

Action Step 2.4 

Create a Development Officer Role – position would be responsible for soliciting and expanding the private donor pool.  This position would report to the VP of Finance and Administration.

This would require the approval of the CSS management team and rely on the ability of the agency to support this additional salary. This is a role that will be created once the restructuring of the organization occurs; it is also reliant on how the strategic planning Subcommittee defines the working relationship between CSS and Catholic Foundation.  So, it is difficult to provide an expected timeline as to when this should start or at all if this function will be absorbed by CF. If CSS is able to add this position to its management structure, it would require financial resources: salary and fringe benefits, marketing budget, fundraising events budget, investment in donor management software etc.

Action Step 3.1

Provide much needed and requested mental health services.

CSS will partner with St. Vincent Home, community resources and services to provide much needed counseling, advocacy, and support for individuals, families, and the community.

The goal is to implement programs within 6 months to a year. The services/clinic would be coordinated and administrated by Catholic Social Services. Resources would be supplemented by community partners, volunteers, counselors, licensed clinicians, and psychological services on a pro bono basis (psychologists, psychiatrists). It would require dedicated space for consultations and group settings.

Financing would come from grants, insurance reimbursements, and private funding (Catholic Foundation). The success of the programs would be measured by the number of clients served, referrals to other services, as well as patient/client outcomes.

Action Step 3.2

Provide services to unserved populations.

Catholic Social Services will work with parishes in each deanery throughout the diocese to identify the needs of parishioners and the community.  The focus will be on underserved populations such as elder services, and services to children and adolescents.

Action Step 3.3

Develop more effective CSS communications, including a directory of services, a website, and social media.

Communication is crucial to help bring awareness to services and community resources. It is a priority and want to see it implemented within the next month to three months.

·      The staff to compile directory of Catholic Social Service’s offices and services provided.

·      Tap into Diocesan communications office for website design and maintenance.

·      Dedicated staff to maintain website and social media outlets.

·      Need dedicated webmaster, volunteers to update social media sites.

·      Printed material: pew cards; booklets; publicized in local and diocesan newspapers; bulletin announcements; added to diocesan and parish websites.

·      Referrals received from the various communication outlets.

Action Step 3.4

Create Volunteer Coordinators and Navigators for each deanery.

The role of the Volunteers Coordinator is to oversee the volunteer base, coordinating the need for, and placement of, volunteers. Coordinator would maintain of list of skill sets, preferred services, and availability of volunteers.

The role of the Navigator –a trained volunteer or staff person – is to serve as a resource for individuals at the parish level guiding them to much needed services and programs.

Volunteer coordinator would be a dedicated staff member. Navigators could be volunteers who serve as point persons to help guide individuals to relevant services and help. This is a vital piece in guaranteeing that individuals get the help they need and want to see this in place within the next three months.

Catholic Social Service staff member would oversee the volunteer coordination for all programs and services that utilize a volunteer base. It would require hiring a person to serve as the coordinator, funding to be provided from both public and private sources. Volunteer procurement and retention would be the measure for this goal.

In order to be supportive and collaborative with our parishes, CSS must inspire and motivate parishioners with meaningful and life-changing programs. Vital to the success of connecting CSS to our Parishes are the following:

1. Integration of Knowledge for CSS

1. Employ or contract a resource for training of CSS staff
2. Common communication tools for staff (email, phones, website, etc.)
3. Develop resources that present CSS vision/mission/goals across diocese

1. Develop a Survey Monkey of Diocese leaders and veteran volunteers assessing effectiveness of communication, accessibility of CSS to partners.
2. Participate in the Development of a strong and current CSS digital presence

1. Provide transparency (Foundation, CSS, Diocese) – will support the efforts of our CSS staff and Parish Priests and points of contact in building trust and confidence in our mission and accomplishments.
2. Provide a platform to share data as regular analysis is completed on programs, missions, etc.

Action Step 4.1

Reengage Parishioners with CSS

Create a new position and hire Volunteer Director.  Develop pathways for communication around events, to and for, volunteers. Measure active volunteers increased by 20% by 2020.

Action Step 4.2

Link CSS mission-focused activities with parishes across the Fall River Diocese.

Develop communication pathways. Create a CSS presence by attending and/or developing Ministry Fairs, Parish/Partner events, etc.  Success will be measured by increased traffic and access of website, volunteer signup/attendance.

Communications pathways entails leveraging existing CSS and parish ministries to promote those missions, combine efforts, identify best practices, cheer their successes. It includes:

• A “Ministries” focus on the CSS website announcing upcoming events, celebrating success of recent activities, providing transparency.
• Providing a contact list of all of key people across Diocese representing parishes and their ministries for easier outreach – mutual support – shared resources/practices. An audit was conducted across all parishes with a focus on ministries that evangelize (See Appendix D: Audit of Parish Ministries.)
• Committing three or four volunteers to do further outreach and expand this listing to show active ministries, key contacts.  This data will then be presented online, shared and disseminated through our parishes and updated by key contacts. (Pending CSS approval, to be completed by end of August)
• Compile and merge an accessible resource listing designed to respond to those in need.  The CSS listing may be built from CSS data, Parish ministries, our parishes and CSS partners.
• CSS attendance at variety of events across diocese with a combination of staff and/or volunteers to provide information about CSS, accept volunteer applications, promote other events or missions, etc.
• Working with the IT team to develop a digital media and physical presence to promote CSS activities inviting attendance, volunteer opportunities.

Action Step 4.3

Outreach to Parishes from CSS.

Hire a Parish Coordinator. Success to be measured by call volume and speaker bureau development.

At the outset of this work, Catholic Social Services (CSS) and its consultant for the Strategic Planning Process outlined a broad scope of potential work for the Community Partnership Subcommittee.  The suggested “Areas of Focus” were expressed to be: Society of St. Vincent de Paul; Diocesan health facilities; schools; and best practices/collaborations with other faith-based and secular social service agencies throughout the Diocese.

The timeline for the work and the resources available to the Subcommittee were such that not all areas could be fully addressed.

In this Executive Summary, only the “Recommendations” are presented, and these are offered in an abbreviated form.

Three major themes emerged from the Subcommittee’s work and underlie our Observations, Findings, Better or Best Practices, and Recommendations.  These are:

·      CSS has a mixed reputation in the parishes, communities, and deaneries comprising the Fall River Diocese.  In a number of instances, the perception is not positive.  CSS is too frequently perceived as not being fully present with a human face and not integrally involved in the life of the community.

·      CSS’s understanding of community partnerships is ill-defined.

·      CSS appears to be opportunistically involved with certain community impact organizations and not fully prepared to develop true partnership relationships with other community impact organizations to maximize effectiveness and outreach to those in need.  In some cases, CSS may be simply unaware of these resources because it lacks a real presence in the community.

In abbreviated form, our eight (8) Recommendations – or Action Steps in keeping with the format of this plan – are:

Actions Step 5.1 

For each deanery, a CSS employee (who is not the CSS Chief Executive Officer) should be designated as the Community Liaison.  Ideally, a different person would be assigned to each deanery.  The Community Liaison’s role would be to facilitate the integration of CSS services with those already existing or desired within each deanery.

Action Step 5.2

CSS should establish a Community Partnership Advisory Committee for each deanery led by the Community Liaison and involving representatives from key community impact organizations in each respective deanery, specifically including those without an active or formal relationship with CSS. The Advisory Committee should meet quarterly for at least three years.

Acton Step 5.3 

The deanery-by-deanery Advisory Committees would form a Diocesan-wide Community Partnership Network.  Each quarter, the Deanery Advisory Committee Chairs would meet collectively with the CSS Chief Executive Officer and perhaps twice a year with the CSS Board of Directors to coordinate CSS’ community partnership collaborative work and involvement.

Action Step 5.4 

To introduce the Community Partnership Advisory Committee concept and re-introduce CSS to the community at large, on a deanery-by-deanery basis, CSS should sponsor and organize kick-off “Community Social Impact” Forums.

Action Step 5.5 

A more detailed assessment of community impact and service needs than was able to be accomplished by the Community Partnership Subcommittee in the limited time of its existence must be undertaken by CSS in the year ahead. The Deanery Community Partnership Advisory Committee can be an effective mechanism through which to process such an assessment. Retention of a consultant to assist in this process would be ideal.  The Subcommittee stands ready to help.

Action Step 5.6 

The CSS Board of Directors (perhaps newly constituted)[1] should review and authorize any significant CSS service expansion and contraction.  Such decisions should not be sole prerogative of either CSS management or the Bishop.

Action Step 5.7

Given the current lack of sufficient resources and existing problems managing present services and programs, CSS should not undertake any new services in the next three years unless certain conditions are met.  See the full Report for those conditions.

Action Step 5.8 

CSS should extend its recently reinvigorated relationship with The Catholic Campaign for Human Development to include a focus on social justice.  This is a logical, natural corollary of CCHD’s emphasis on helping individuals and families who are in need or marginalized bring about their own betterment by effecting change in public polices, legislation and informal or formal structures that impede their growth and self-fulfillment. Such capacity would greatly enhance the CSS mission to bring about systemic change. It is also in full harmony with the fundamental principles of Catholic Social Teaching on which rest our Gospel call to provide charity and seek justice “for the least among us.