FMI (for my information)

Well, the boss failed to show up for the 3CPO's adventure in 'meet Mel's staff'.
I'm sure he'll hear all about it.
The 3CPO's will tell him.

They were wonderfully behaved.
And I mean wonderfully.
I didn't pay 'em to say kind things--but they were said none-the-less.

Of all the programs in the agency, this one has the highest success rate, the best outcome data, the lowest rate of staff turn-over. It's rare that we ever have an open bed--the waiting list tends to be quite long.
We're 'good' at what we do.
It's a multi-faceted program treating the whole problem--not just the outward noise, we do a lot of therapies to deal with what drives the problems the rest of the world is 'allowed' to see.
It's our privilege to get to deal squarely with the issues no one has been able to previously touch.
And it IS a privilege....


What is it that makes that magic happen?

According to the staff--It's the sense of everyone being FOR the kiddos and families, the sense of the staff being a family and not just a 'team'....knowing that others 'have your back', knowing that folks will show up when the fur is flying and the folks dealing with the flying fur will get rescued and helped and supported, even when it's people's time off....the sense of 'never surrendering' or 'giving up' because so many people have tossed their hands up and given up on these kiddos before.
We just won't.
It's not how we're made.
And we know the difference between folks who show up for a paycheck and folks who show up because they're 'purposed' to do what we do.
We search for people who'll stick around, who'll remain, who'll be invested.....who'll be there two years later when the kiddo they worked with rings back to check in.....cuz remaining in the life of a child MATTERS.

And then one of the 3CPO's asked where that sense of 'family' and 'purpose/mission' got nurtured:

Nothing gets asked of the staff that the manager isn't doing or isn't willing to do.

The leadership gets up at two in the morning on New Years Day to help look for kids who decided that two in the morning was a 'good time for an unapproved walk about'. (naughty kiddos!)

Where else does the manager work from their home until midnight, on their off time, to make sure the paperwork's done so they can play with the kiddos the next day....
Where else does the manager work every holiday and whiz in for a staff member who needs to leave for an hour or so to attend their own kiddos football game....
Where else does the manager peel potatoes, do dishes and get in water fights with the kiddos .... and the staff..... (Shhhhhhhhhh!!!)
Where else does the manager care so much about what's 'right' and so little about 'being popular' or 'liked' or 'one of the administrative gang'.....(ooooooops.....)
Do the other managers schedule themselves until 10pm twice a week so they can tuck the kids in bed....
Do the other managers know the names of every student and every mom and every dad their unit serves?

There's the agency's standards, and there's Mel's standards.
Ohhhhhh no...No body piercing staff allowed here!! No eyebrow rings, no nose piercings-- No slinky clothing, no tattoo displaying, no cleavage (LOL)....we're responsible to go 360 degrees in the opposite direction--maybe we'll help that kid find a happy medium instead of presenting themself as 'the happy hooker'....(OMG!!! LOL)

We have the best leadership you could want. They don't lead by preaching or telling. They lead by showing and doing and then doing with us before having us do.

There's not a job here the leadership can't do. They're not going to NOT know. And if by chance they don't know.....they WILL. Do YOU know how to make quiche for 50 people? (LOL.....don't tell himself!)

Mel's always saying "When all else fails........just LOVE 'er." ....Even when they've gotten so mad they've spit on you. I've seen 'em spit on her--and I've seen her love 'em anyway. That's what I want to be if I ever grow up. (geeze......that made my throat tight....)



Oh, they had wonderful things to say about each other, about how much they learn--how much they personally get to 'grow' while doing what they do.
And they had such wonderful things to say about the kiddos and families--stories of hard won successes, of lives changed, of families healing and reuniting....

But I don't wanna forget what matters to the folks I'm privileged to work with.
Cuz the next time I whine about draggin' my arse into the worksite on a snowy winter's day, I wanna remember what that MEANS in the life of a kiddo...



What goes around--G-d willing....comes around.........