Big plans for Algoma Family Services

NEWS RELEASE

ALGOMA FAMILY SERVICES

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On Oct. 3, at the 16th Annual General Meeting for Algoma Family Services featuring keynote speaker Dr. Martin Brokenleg and a musical performance by local Sault group “The Din”, the Board of Directors revealed a bold strategic plan for Algoma Family Services.

“The new strategic plan makes it clear for all of AFS and the community what we aim to achieve in the next five years”, said Ali Juma, CEO.

The new strategic plan outlines four key priority areas all with the focus of achieving the mission of improving access to services.

“Over the course of the last year through our engagement events and through focus groups held by the firm MacPhie, we heard loud and clear the most important issue for stakeholders and clients is getting more timely access to our services”, said Juma.

With waitlist for services extending to weeks and months, the frustration for children, youth and their families is not getting service at the right time.

“What our new strategic plan commits us to is doing everything in our power to ensure children, youth, adults and families get the right service at the right time in the right place by the right people. That is our value proposition,” indicated Juma.

With the recruitment of Juma as the CEO in March 2015 significant restructuring has occurred at AFS all with the purpose of ensuring the agency is best positioned to meet its current and future demands.

“The reality is we have experienced over a 22 percent increase in demand for services over the last five years with funding failing to meet this increase. The children requiring our services are getting younger and their needs more complex. The average age of a child needing our service is 10, five years ago it was 16,” said Juma.

As outlined in the CEO report at the annual general meeting, AFS has had a tremendously successful year in acquiring new resources, modernizing its services and office locations, and also initiating new programs such as the single session walk-in service last November.

“To say the last year was an incredible year of growth and change at AFS would be a bit of an understatement! It truly has been a remarkable year on all our service fronts, and I am truly appreciative and inspired by the amazing dedication and commitment of the staff in putting the needs of children, youth, adults and families first,” said Juma.

“Many hours have been spent by both the staff and the Board in developing a new strategic plan that will help to provide direction for the agency during the next few years. We congratulate and thank all staff and Board members for their ongoing dedication and effort to our organization”, said Sherrill Dewar, AFS Board President.

Algoma Family Services is a multi-million dollar multi-service agency providing a range of services that include: child and youth mental health, student nutrition, youth justice, youth addictions, supervised access, and adult services inclusive of counselling for victims and perpetrators of domestic violence.

“The challenge I experienced in arriving at AFS is how our various programs are funded by different funders. As a result, the agency was divided along those lines making it difficult to achieve an organizational focus and synergy in addressing our wait times for service. One of our strategic priorities is Busting Barriers, in other words to eliminate the barriers that get in the way of maximizing our resources. We have done a lot of great work in this area with our restructuring; however there is still more to do”, said Juma.

The next phase of this work will involve empowering staff to bring forward their ideas and make these ideas reality at AFS; also working closely with community partners on making services more timely and accessible.

“AFS does not have a monopoly on child and youth mental health; it is a shared responsibility with the community. We will work with anybody at any time to inspire hope and wellness in our community.”

To learn more about the new AFS Strategic Plan please visit the Algoma Family Services website or the Algoma Family Services Facebook page.

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