ORGANIZATIONAL
FY 2025 FY 2025
A MESSAGE FROM MVCS BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND LEADERSHIP
September 2024
To our Island Friends,
Thank you for your continued support for Martha’s Vineyard Community Services. Since January 2024, our organization has been busy assessing current goals, operations, and opportunities for the future. The Board, management, employees, and key service partners shared their perspectives and insights on Community Services’ strengths, challenges, and potential opportunities to meet the growing needs of our island community.
It has been an informative and illuminating collaborative process. We are so appreciative to all who weighed in to share their unique view on where we have been and how to focus our resources for the years ahead. Our agency is stronger than ever and positioned for sustained growth and continued quality service.
Moving in tandem with our strategic assessment and planning process is our effort to transition to new executive leadership in the months ahead. We are all on board for a year of celebration, continuity, and transition… celebrating all that has been accomplished in recent years, continuing strategic efforts underway, and transitioning to new leadership with a strong and collaborative team.
Integral to our continued success is the attached Organizational Plan for FY 2025. The following six Goal Areas shed light on our aims and priorities for FY 2025.
Goal Area 1: Mission and Services
Goal Area 2: Community Leadership
Goal Area 3: Employees and Organizational Culture
Goal Area 4: Quality Practice
Goal Area 5: Financial Health
Goal Area 6: Capital Campaign
As part of our planning, we assessed our agency’s strengths and challenges. Based on this assessment, we created a summary profile for each of three key themes: Organizational Team, Organizational Capacity, and Organizational Resources.
ORGANIZATIONAL TEAM
Our workforce is now 145-strong! We have expert staff leading the way in our core service areas: CONNECT to End Violence, Disability Services, Early Childhood Programs, Island Counseling Center, and Island Wide Youth Collaborative (Family Resource Center). Employees providing direct service excel in their work. Their knowledge, practice, and commitment inspire. The time has come for us to leverage our workforce strength through an agencywide structural transformation and a pipeline development program.
Agency structural transformation will expand current service areas into
Divisions:
• CONNECT to End Violence will become the Domestic and Sexual Violence Services Division, led by a Division Director
• Disability Services will become the Disability and Employment Services Division, led by a Division Director
• Early Education and Care will become the Educational Services Division, led by a Division Director
• Island Counseling Center will become the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Behavioral Healthcare, led by a Chief Clinical Officer
• Island Wide Youth Collaborative will become the Family and Community Services Division, led by a Division Director
Division Directors will take an active role in assessing and responding to community needs related to their division. We are particularly excited about anticipated growth in behavioral health, educational, adolescent, and family services.
Recruitment and retention challenges common to Martha’s Vineyard affect the composition and consistency of our workforce from time to time. Economic and housing hardships on Martha’s Vineyard make island living a challenge for working families. Therefore, we continue to invest in strategies related to hiring and keeping the top talent required to execute our mission. Goal Area 3 of the Plan communicates our strategy to create an exceptional workplace for the Community Services team.
ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY
We continue to innovate and grow. During our last Strategic Plan, we opened a Clinical Residency Program; secured new contracts for a Community Behavioral Center and Enhanced Outreach and Clinical Triage; re-contracted the Peer Recovery Support Center (The Red House) and grew its membership to 280; expanded accessibility for early childcare through grants with MV Youth, Slough Farm and a private donor; and enhanced programming in our five key service areas.
We grew services and revenue and kept administrative costs down. This intentional effort was effective for its time. Now, we possess greater urgency to strengthen the administrative resources needed to manage the increased complexity associated with organic growth. What a GREAT challenge to have!
We accept this challenge by continuing to grow (Goal Area 1), building on our strong partnerships (Goal Area 2), strengthening our human resources (Goal Area 3), and promoting ongoing financial health (Goal Area 5).
ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCES
We are so grateful for the way our community shows its support for MVCS. Our location on Martha’s Vineyard brings geographic, resource, and donative advantages. We also hold contracts with private, local, state, and federal entities. Strong, long-term, and constructive relationships with these entities are critical for ongoing organizational sustainability. Our partnerships with MV Hospital, MV Public Schools, law enforcement, and other nonprofits are instrumental to our services and organizational success. Together, these external resource strengths positively impact our organization, programs, and services.
Internal to the organization, we continue to focus on three key resource needs: (a) continued cultivation of our management and leadership pipeline for strong workforce succession; (b) integration of technological resources to ease workflows; and (c) ongoing infusion of grant, program, and other philanthropic revenue to support our growing structure.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, Leadership, Management, and Service Team, we thank all who continue to believe in our mission and join us in partnership to enhance the health and well-being of children, adolescents, adults, and families on Martha’s Vineyard. We believe our Organizational Plan for FY 2025 sets a solid course of action for the organization’s future. Thank you for being a part of this transformative journey.
Kind Regards, The MVCS Team
MISSION AND SERVICES GOAL
AREA 1
Expand services for islanders across the lifespan.
GOAL STATEMENT:
With many new and anticipated behavioral health services in our view, we focus on accountability and implementation of these vital services. At the center of our attention is our forthcoming Martha’s Vineyard Center for Behavioral Healthcare. The Center will be home to a broad range of clinic, community, and school-based behavioral health services. We will continue to serve islanders of all ages, from birth through end of life. Under this goal area, we also focus on cultivating employees to “build the bench” of the future for our Veteran’s Outreach and Counseling, Outreach, and Referral for Elders Programs. For islanders who need interpretation services, we continue to expand on Community Services’ Client and Community Access Team (CCAT).
This goal area also expands our Disability Services by invigorating Employment Services to assist persons with varying abilities to integrate with society in employment and leisure. Finally, we believe we can do more for island adolescents and transitional aged youth. In our youth-centered educational and supportive programs we will add programming designed for positive youth development.
OBJECTIVE 1:
Launch the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Behavioral Health Care to integrate our full range of clinic-based and non-clinic behavioral health services. We intend to:
Open the Behavioral Health Access Program, which includes…
• Open Access services to address urgent mental health and substance abuse needs
• Enhanced Outreach & Clinical Triage service to promote urgent access for uninsured and underinsured islanders
• Co-Responder Services, which offer a joint response with our island’s law enforcement in cases of community-based mental health emergencies
• Preparation for Mobile Crisis Intervention Services for children, adolescents, and adults, expected to open in fall 2025.
Expand our offerings at the Island Counseling Center, to encompass mental health and substance abuse services required as a Community Behavioral Health Center. We aim to:
• Expand access to psychiatric services for children and adults
• Integrate best practices in clinical intervention
• Enhance our group and individual substance abuse services; and
• Intensify Child & Family Mental Health Outreach services, where we will steadily increase the percentage of children over the course of this Plan.
Strengthen Counseling, Education, and Referral for Elders (CORE) and increase services to address growing mental health needs of older adults on Martha’s Vineyard
Continue the Behavioral Health Community Partner Program to ensure adults with co-occurring mental health, medical, and/or substance use issues receive integrated services to manage complex conditions
OBJECTIVE 2:
Cultivate employment opportunities for adults with disabilities, to include the following:
Building programs at the Daybreak Clubhouse to attract overall greater membership, with specific focus on the young adult population
Boosting the Employment Services client census by a minimum of 10%
OBJECTIVE 3:
Investigate and/or launch educational and/or social services programs to promote positive (youth) development in adolescents and young adults by:
Leverage the value of Island Wide Youth Collaborative (IWYC) and integrate at least one educational, mentorship, or positive youth development offering for adolescents
GOAL
AREA
COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP
2 Collaborate with key partners to address the diverse needs of island youth, adults, and families.
GOAL STATEMENT:
Our work occurs by collaborating with others. As we continue to build our behavioral health services, we work hard to expand on existing, strong, and vital collaborations. Our work in this goal area will foster collaboration across key stakeholders on which our clients depend. We will develop systems and formal agreements to encourage exceptional communication, clarity, and partnership. Importantly, we plan to reinstate the Stakeholders Committee to routinely engage with our influencing community, assess needs, and act on these needs. When taken together, the strategies activated under this goal area will enhance our participation and leadership on Martha’s Vineyard and improve the quality and continuity of care for those we serve.
OBJECTIVE 1:
Continue to strengthen our relationship with key stakeholders through formal arrangements with a focus on:
• Martha’s Vineyard Hospital
• Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools
• Island Health Center
• Healthy Aging Martha’s Vineyard
• Youth Task Force, and
• Harbor Homes
OBJECTIVE 2:
Complete the current effort underway to formalize an articulated model of resources and intervention, in conjunction with Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, Hospice and Palliative Care of Martha’s Vineyard, Island Health Care, Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools, and Riverside for critical incident response involving behavioral health crises.
OBJECTIVE 3:
Assist the Martha’s Vineyard Substance Use Disorder Coalition to achieve sustainable funding.
EMPLOYEES
AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE GOAL
AREA 3
Strengthen our workforce by investing in recruitment, retention, professional development, and succession strategies.
GOAL STATEMENT:
A qualified, satisfied, and energized workforce drives the high-quality services we offer. We continue to prioritize the employee experience as a key, strategic focus area. Now with 145 employees, we find the need to increase the size and scope of our Human Resources Department. Second, this goal area addresses the need to take specific steps to build the Leadership and Management Pipeline and to sustain our Emerging Leaders Program. Taken together, these initiatives promote qualified succession within the organization. Third, we hope to use our Clinical Residency Program to its full potential to address the staff housing crisis. Fourth and last, we round out this goal area with intentional strategies related to employee professional development and training, and performance management and evaluation.
OBJECTIVE 1:
Invest in our Human Resources Department by adding employees in senior and coordinating roles.
OBJECTIVE 2:
Develop the Leadership and Management Pipeline Program to plan for succession, to stimulate professional growth, and to promote organizational stability and continuity.
The Leadership and Management Pipeline Program includes the following features:
• Creation and cultivation of an Executive Leadership Team (ELT) comprised of C-level employees
• Expansion of the Administrative Leadership Team (ALT) comprised of ELT, Vice Presidents, Senior Directors, and Division Directors
• Creation and cultivation of the Agency Management Team (AMT) comprised of ELT, ALT, and Program Management
• Creation and cultivation of mid-level management positions to enhance programmatic and organizational involvement; and,
• Expansion of membership on the Quality Management Team and associated Performance Improvement Teams by growing QMT membership and involvement each year for the duration of this Plan
OBJECTIVE 3:
Codify the Emerging Leaders Program from pilot program to permanent investment, by:
• Creating policy informed by the inaugural and graduating team of Emerging Leaders
• Begin the second cohort of Emerging Leaders
OBJECTIVE 4:
Explore housing solutions for our team by expanding the Clinical Residency Program to other disciplines of our Community Services team. Our aims are to achieve 100% occupancy and secure grant or donative funding to ensure program viability.
OBJECTIVE 5:
Launch the Coaching Model for Performance Management, with associated performance-based compensation, annual salary increases, and/or distributions. Our focal areas for FY 2025 are clinical staff at Island Counseling Center and paraprofessional service personnel.
OBJECTIVE 6:
Build upon our current initiative with the Massachusetts Service Alliance to expand volunteer capacity through pilot-to-permanent programs, with immediate focus on leveraging our strong volunteer capacity at Chicken Alley. Our aim for FY 2025 is to increase volunteer hours at the Thrift Store by 15%.
OBJECTIVE 7:
Deliver on the accountabilities of the Home and Community Workforce Development Grant, which concludes in February 2025.
QUALITY PRACTICE GOAL
AREA 4
Strengthen policy, training, connection, and communication across the organization to sustain our long tradition of quality practice.
GOAL STATEMENT:
As a nationally accredited and highly regulated organization, we continue to invest in our Quality Management Plan, performance benchmarks, and data-driven decision-making. This goal area highlights strategies to build a Quality Management Department, use benchmark data to assess effectiveness and inform decisions, and cultivate policy for practice standardization when possible. Important to our future is our ongoing effort to build a comprehensive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program.
OBJECTIVE 1:
Implement Program Benchmarks to convey organizational performance with regards to three measurement areas:
• The effectiveness of our services
• The accessibility of our services
• The degree to integrate community resources and partners into service delivery.
OBJECTIVE 2:
Finalize and execute our agency Client Information System (CIS).
OBJECTIVE 3:
Prepare for national re-accreditation by the Council on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities.
OBJECTIVE 4:
Build a comprehensive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program that addresses: (i) Board and workforce composition and commitment; (ii) Performance management and pay equity analysis and action; (iii) Needs-based awareness, education, and professional development; and (iv) Organizational cultural development to promote inclusion and belonging.
GOAL
AREA 5
FINANCIAL HEALTH
While maintaining a conservative approach to expense management, grow revenue through small and large diversified sources to stabilize and sustain recent innovations.
GOAL STATEMENT:
As we expand services, invest in our workforce, and strengthen our administrative capacity, we plan to take an assertive approach to build resources through federal, state, local, and private grants as well as with third-party insurance payments. Financial diversification and conservative expense management will create a healthier operating margin. We also look to support our Chicken Alley Thrift to sustain its strong contribution to the agency. Finally, we will continue to cultivate philanthropic interest in MV Community Services to support the overall financial health of the organization.
OBJECTIVE 1:
Augment our overall revenue stream by 150-300K by focusing on incremental gains within our five core service lines:
• Behavioral health services
• Disability services
• Domestic and sexual violence education, prevention, & intervention services
• Educational services
• Family and community support services
OBJECTIVE 2:
Incrementally build Chicken Alley’s operating margin by building volunteer capacity, increasing sales, innovating unique events, and stabilizing expenses.
OBJECTIVE 3:
Sustain work underway in Revenue Cycle Management and solidify RCM analytics for Island Counseling Center.
CAPITAL CAMPAIGN AND TRANSFORMATION OF THE AGENCY’S CAMPUS FOR THE FUTURE GOAL AREA 6
Build the new Martha’s Vineyard Community Services’ Center as a welcoming, accessible, secure, and sustainable facility to house the MVCS Center for Behavioral Healthcare and related services for Islanders of all ages and needs.
GOAL STATEMENT:
Now in Phase 2 of our Capital Campaign, we look forward to the complete restoration of our agency campus on 111 Edgartown Road. Built in the early 1980s, our campus is dilapidated and unsuitable for long-term viability. We are on pace to break ground in 2025 and have a goal to complete our restoration by fall 2026.
OBJECTIVE 1:
Meet Capital Campaign “Shovel-in-Ground” goal (12.5M) in December 2024 (through philanthropic giving and capital loan opportunities).
OBJECTIVE 2:
Complete all requisite preparation and approval activities by fall 2024 in conjunction with South Mountain Company.
OBJECTIVE 3:
Launch the Campaign’s public phase and break ground for our new campus facility (by early spring 2025).
Every day we commit our unique experience, expertise and compassion to help our entire community be as vibrant, strong and healthy as it can be.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Michael A. Goldsmith Board President
Larkin Stallings* Former Board President
Carl Folta Vice President
Alfred Woollacott III Treasurer
Walter W. Vail* Former Treasurer
Leah Brown Secretary
Valci Carvalho*
Ronald Dunlap
Patty Favreau
Gary Foster
Amy Gavin, Governance Chair
Edwina Hawes
Bill Howell
Amy Koenig Da Silva
Maria Krokidas, Audit Chair
Paul G. Manning
Stephanie Mashek*
Liza May, Development Chair
Martha McNally
Nancy Monestime-Williams
Matt Poole
James M. Schwartz
Jodie A. Treloar
Mary (May) E. Wall
Lorraine Wells
*Tenure concluded with the organization on October 31, 2024