Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies (COFCCA)

Many thanks to all the leaders in our field — including Hillside’s own David Fluellen — who came together for the latest Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies (COFCCA) convening in Syracuse! Our journey to provide the highest quality services to youth and families in need requires collaboration and commitment, every day.

Brian McKee, President and CEO of The House of the Good Shepherd, joined fellow senior leaders at the Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies (COFCCA) conference in Syracuse on Tuesday. COFCCA's tireless efforts to empower children, families, and communities through advocacy, education, and culturally responsive child welfare and juvenile justice services in New York State are truly appreciated, and we are grateful for their partnership.

COFCCA hosted a well-attended fall convening in Syracuse for our upstate member agencies. The event brought together senior leaders of our member agencies for a general session, which included a moderated discussion on successful statewide legislative advocacy in relation to the state legislative and budget process, featuring members of the New York State Assembly –Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon, Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter, and Assemblymember Al Stirpe, and moderated by Vaughn Golden, an Albany-based NY Post reporter. The general session also included a panel moderated by our COFCCA Board member, Dave Fluellen of Hillside Family of Agencies, with the NYS Office of Children and Family Services Regional Directors for discussion on significant issues in the child welfare sector from their perspective and an exploration of opportunities for building stronger connections amongst partners in the sector upstate. We also had breakout sessions for CEOs/EDs, CFOs, Foster Boarding Home Directors, QA/QI (featuring Darlene Ward of WRI Solutions), and Juvenile Justice/Preventive Services (featuring Cayuga Centers and Cayuga County representatives). It was a full and energizing day! Thank you to everyone who attended and engaged with our guests and fellow members!

Yesterday COFCCA hosted their annual upstate conference. This year hosted assemblyman & assemblywoman as well as OCFS regional directors. The highlight for the quality assurance team was having the CEO of WRI present on her wealth of knowledge regarding quality improvement. She engaged the audience and gave get key takeaways for us all to implement at our agencies.  Thank you Darlene for taking the time to share your experiences!

COFCCA celebrates 50 years of advocacy this year! Please see below for an invite to COFCCA's upcoming 50th anniversary celebration in NYC on 10/22! The RSVP link is https://lnkd.in/eHhBgAx6 We are also issuing a call for sponsors - see the second image for details, and we appreciate your consideration of this opportunity.

California's foster family agencies are facing an unprecedented insurance crisis as the largest insurer in the space pulls out, putting over 9,700 foster children at risk. Jeff Wiemann, Executive Director of Angels Foster Family Network, shared his concerns in Capitol Weekly, stating, ‘We’re going to see foster family agencies close,’ highlighting the urgent need for solutions. #9700ReasonsToAct Read more in the Capitol Weekly article here: https://lnkd.in/gkv7_4p3

Last week, COFCCA was pleased to join members of Governor Hochul’s administration, Assistant Secretary for Human Services Alyson Grant Tarek, and Assistant Counsel, Lisa Vasnani, to visit COFCCA member, LaSalle School. The Governor’s team was able to meet staff, learn more about the different program offerings, and hear about the impact of programs. Thank you LaSalle for a great tour!

COFCCA was happy to join Northern Rivers Family of Services in a tour with members of Governor Hochul’s administration. Thank you Northern Rivers team for the great work you do in the community supporting children & families, & thank you Alyson & Lisa for taking the time to visit programs!

Congratulations to two longtime leaders in our COFCCA network, Jim Coder & Carolyne DeFranco! We wish Jim a wonderful and fulfilling retirement and thank you for your board service and leadership throughout the years! We are very happy for Carolyne and New View, and value her COFCCA Board service! Congratulations also to Sarah and Kristy, we are proud to see your leadership recognized!

We were delighted to spend time with leaders of our NYC COFCCA member agencies this past week for an end of summer gathering!