Not all families are the same, in fact they are as unalike as individual people are. No matter whether you belong to a traditional or a non-traditional family, nothing is more important than learning how to be a strong and supportive family. Join us in honoring all families and plan to attend Getting Real About Family Voice and Choice: Diverse Family Structures on September 20, 2012...follow this link for conference details.

Family Continuity regularly provides full days of worker safety training to all of its staff annually, the first organization in Massachusetts to do so. Our training focuses on increasing an individual's awareness of risk in the workplace, and provides new skills in crisis management, de-escalation, conflict resolution, and personal responsibility. It is the basis for the agency's greater goal of creating a culture of safety for not only its staff, but also the human services field, its clients, and the communities it serves. 

As reported in a past newsletter, in 2011 Family Continuity proposed and  was awarded a $25,000.00 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) to provide worker and workplace safety training for employees in the human service field. This was the first such effort they funded focusing on the human service sector, one which they had by their own admission, never considered before. It was a one year grant, however paperwork and other snags prevented the money being released for spending until January, which meant that a one year work plan needed to be completed in less than six months. Needless to say, it took a major effort from the trainers, Becky Alves, Donna Cotter, Kathleen Englehardt, Erin Gallagher, Joe Giacometti, Jen Mourhess, Skip Stuck, and most especially the team leader, Kevin Nicastro, supported by Elena Marchand to pull it off.

However, the agency did pull it off, completing the  work of the grant ( just under the wire on June 28th), in fact meeting or exceeding all of its planned deliverable outcomes. 
 

• 531 individuals received training under the grant, nearly 100 more than had been promised in the proposal (435)
• 21 separate training sessions were held in more than a dozen cities across the state from Springfield to Cape Cod and Cape Ann
• Training was provided to staff and volunteers  from more than 20 human service provider organizations
• Included in the total were also two sessions devoted to "Training the Trainers", where participants in the earlier training were provided with the advanced skills needed to continue the training within their own organization, and creating a trained trainer bank of more than 35 individuals to carry on the work
• Course evaluations were completed by all participants which showed very strong support for the training, and are all on file with the DIA
• Even DIA staff audited several of the sessions, and Family Continuity was encouraged to apply for a second grant, which it has done and hopes to hear about soon.

If you or your organization is interested in creating a safer environment for workers, families and communities, you are encouraged to contact Family Continuity and ask about its "Creating a Culture of Safety " initiative.

I'm so much happier now, though it hasn't always been that way. It was a long slow road to turn my life around. Yet a road I'm very glad I traveled.
 

When I came out of the state hospital I was still very angry, angry at the world and everyone in it. I was placed in a residential program and got a new therapist. The residential was a bad placement but the therapist was the best one I've ever had. She always believed in me. I can tell you that makes a big difference 'cause it's really hard to believe in yourself when no one else does. It was a long slow road. I was on a path of self-destruction with multiple hospitalizations. I started attending a support group. I eventually graduated that group and to this day still use what I learned.Continue reading here...