Crittenton’s 17th Annual Employee BRAVO Awards
Acknowledging Crittenton Employees:
For 17 years Crittenton Services for Children and Families (CSCF) has made a commitment to honor the agency’s employees for their commitment in helping to treat childhood trauma, and actively curtailing the cycles of child abuse and neglect within the Southern California communities we serve.
At the end of April the agency provided a free sit-down breakfast or lunch for all full-time, part-time, and on-call employees who participated at the yearly celebration otherwise known as the Crittenton BRAVO Awards. This year’s theme was designated as “Together, We Make a Difference” and it was hosted at the Springfield Banquet Hall in Fullerton, Calif.
“It has been in Crittenton’s experience that some of the most loyal and hard working employees any organization is lucky to count on are non-profit employees,” said Martha Jasso, Director of Communications, CSCF, “We have a number of employees who are proud to state that they have been passionately working for and alongside Crittenton for a decade or more. However, whether a new or a long-time employee, collectively, our team contributes their talents, leadership, and expertise within today’s child welfare profession. Our agency realizes that the child welfare profession is noted to have among some of the highest burnout rates of any profession. Therefore, Crittenton does what we can to acknowledge employees who make our agency work and that make a difference in the lives of traumatized youth.”
Social work, therapy and the child welfare professionals in California by default work in some of the most challenging work environments, and it is oftentimes difficult to retain and hire employees due to limited recruiting budgets, and competition by government and for-profit agencies all vying for the same top talent.
“We do what we can to entice and retain new and long-standing employees to continue to consider Crittenton as their employer of choice. The annual BRAVO Awards; in-house promotion opportunities whenever possible; monthly training opportunities for continuing education units; an education incentive program; and even an employee recruitment program that current employees are rewarded by if they find good candidates-for-hire are just some of the strategies implemented by the agency’s human resources department in order to help with morale and employee appreciation,” said Jasso.
Most recently the agency has also looked at other ways to recruit and acknowledge top talent. For example, Crittenton has an agency-wide internship program that we use as a means to train and onboard the new generation of social workers. The Crittenton Internship Program has become so successful that the agency has become a “go-to” community partner for local colleges and universities that look for ways to give their undergraduate and graduate students opportunities for real-world experience.
One such employee recruitment success story is the 10-year partnership between California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) and Crittenton. This year the CSUF Social Work department nominated Crittenton for its commitment as a “teaching” institution and its willingness to hire CSUF graduates with outstanding job performance records while interning at the agency. That internship experience counts as on-the-job experience and we are happy to not only hire newly minted child welfare professionals, but also give glowing references for interns we don’t have open positions for.
A few months ago a CSUF undergraduate, Michelle Griffin, started working as a part-time human resources assistant while interning in Crittenton’s Residential Treatment Center. Today, she is currently working full-time as a residential counselor and has said that she finds the job challenging, but she finds herself constantly learning from Crittenton clients and fellow co-workers.
“Personally, the most fulfilling part about working here [Crittenton] is working directly with the clients. Watching them grow and recover is a rewarding experience, and I’m committed to empowering them,” said Griffin, “ Collectively, my experience here has been life-changing. A few years ago I had no intention to work with youth, but now I can’t imagine working with any other population. What I appreciate the most about Crittenton are the coworkers and supervisors who are willing to invest their time in training me, making sure that I will be successful no matter where life takes me. I feel valued here, and I’m thankful that I have been given the opportunity to improve my skills and grow as an individual. By working at Crittenton, I feel purposeful, committed and empowered.”
Recently, the Nonprofit HR 2015 report noted that the non-profit sector is going on a hiring spree with nearly half, or 50 percent, of U.S. non-profits planning on creating new positions as opposed to only 36 percent of their private sector counterparts.
According to the report, the non-profit community is the third largest employer in the U.S.; employing 10.7 million people; and that nearly 46 percent of non-profit job growth is expected to be in the area of direct client services. Which means that overall non-profits are putting more Americans back to work, and something the non-profit sector and those communities with a strong non-profit representation should be proud of.
And, by the way, this hiring trend in the non-profit community also holds true at Crittenton Services! We are currently hiring for open positions in direct client services with some in the administration area as well, and foresee more positions opening for those interested candidates that want to work for a non-profit or in a social services related field.
So, for those of you interested in helping to advance the mission of a non-profit whose national child welfare legacy goes back to 1883 won’t you consider helping Crittenton?
Or, for those of you who know of anyone who would like to work with an agency like Crittenton feel free to share Crittenton’s job information with your network!
And for the Michelle Griffin’s of the world, and the Crittenton employees recognized at this year’s BRAVO awards we sincerely thank you for your service. We can’t say it enough of how humbled we are that you have chosen Crittenton to fulfill your life’s purpose.
2015 Crittenton BRAVO Award Winners:
- Yvette Zabala, Wraparound Family Services
- Justin Hogan, Wraparound Family Services
- Dawn Ledesma, Wraparound Family Services
- Sandra Lomeli, Wraparound Family Services
- Sylvia Ramirez, Family Preservation Program
- Gabriela Guitron, Residential Shelter Services
- Stephanie Torres, Residential Treatment Services
- Teresa Kadatoni, Crittenton Administration Staff
- Alex Genah, Crittenton’s Ambassador of the Year
Crittenton Employee Statistics for 2015:
- Crittenton employs 425 people from a five county area including: Orange County, Los Angeles County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County and San Diego County
- 78% are full-time, 8% are ¾ time, 2% are part-time, and 12% are on-call
- 21% are male, and 79% are female
- 24.2% have a high school diploma, 75% have associates degree or some college education, 49.2% have a bachelors degree, 16% have a masters degree, 2% have a masters in social work, 1 person has a PsyD designation, and 1 person has a Juris Doctor (J.D.) designation
- .4% is of the Silent Generation (1927-1945), 16% are Baby Boomers (1946-1964), 37% is Generation X (1965-1983), 46.6% is Generation Y or the Millennial’s (1984-2002)
###
Crittenton Services for Children and Families of Southern California (CSCF) is a non-profit social services agency whose mission is to heal the wounds of abuse and neglect; strengthen families; and help troubled adolescents reach their full potential. Established and incorporated in 1966 Crittenton has a highly trained workforce operating 24 hours a day / 7 days a week providing comprehensive counseling, medical, and other support services to the clients in our care. We provide a full array of residential, in-home, community based, wraparound, mental health, foster care, adoption services, and transitional aged youth services with a service planning area throughout Southern California that covers Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego Counties.
Visit www.crittentonsocal.org to learn more about our programs and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+, and Flickr.