Continued on page 3

Closing the Gaps on the Path to Recovery 2 Director’s Corner

4 Volunteers Gather for Annual PIT Count

5 Drug Drop-Off Box Now in Del Ray

6 Communicate with Style!

8 Serving Alexandria Residents

9 DCHS Highlights

12 Hello Goodbye

15 News You Can Use

C nnectTHE NEWS YOU NEED | THE PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH

J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AND HUMAN SERVICES

CAS takes creative approach to filling critical vacanciesPersonnel vacancies pop up regularly in most organizations, and behavioral and

mental health programs are no exception. Several years ago, the Center for Adult Services (CAS) decided to take a creative approach to support clients during vacancies by creating a Senior Therapist Floater position.

“We realized that we pretty much always had at least one vacancy in a Senior Therapist position, somewhere in our center,” says CAS Director Carol Layer. “As everybody knows, just one vacancy can create waitlists in some programs and a need for overtime in others, both of which cause problems for clients and/or staff. And recruitment, hiring and training can be a lengthy process. We thought that if we had one senior therapist who could be cross-trained, we would be able to ‘plug’ the most urgent vacancy in any of our programs so as to minimize disruptions to service and burdens on staff.”

The Center crafted the position to cover high need areas like Emergency

2 C O N N E C T J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 3

Director’s C rner

DCHS Director Kate Garvey

The City Manager released his FY2019 Budget on Febru-ary 20. Each department had been asked to identify 2% in reductions in order to fill a $20 million gap. For DCHS, this meant a possible reduction of $1,033,777. The Leader-ship Team worked to identify ways to meet this target with a minimal impact on service delivery and current staff. In order to do this, we focused on vacancies, retirement savings, alternative sources

Update on the Budget ...

DCHS continues to move forward in its search for a location for a consolidated site to house the majority of its services.

Since the merger of the City’s social and behavioral health services into one department in 2010, one location has been the most frequently identified factor by staff at all levels across the Department when it comes to improving employee communication and collaboration and increasing client access to services. Currently, DCHS services and programs are located in seven major locations across the City.

Starting last month, the Leadership Team began meeting with the newly hired architec-tural firm, Kimley Horn, which is currently helping the team explore what spaces DCHS, the Health Department and Neighborhood Health could share, such as meeting rooms, entry points and waiting rooms. The team is also continuing to review the Request for Proposals from building owners who bid on providing sites to the City. If a site is selected from the RFPs, the team expects the review and negotiations to be complete by mid-summer, keep-ing the team on track to meet the goal of a single location by Summer 2019.

In the meantime, the team continues with its efforts to solicit program and staff input in the project management for space configuration. Recently, the team sent out a survey to man-agers covering areas like work environment, work flow, work space, meeting storage needs.

Read former updates and keep up with news and information about the potential for acquiring one DCHS location at alexnet.alexandriava.gov/DCHS—and keep an eye out for upcoming opportunities to be involved and contribute your input!

... and the Consolidated Site

of revenue and efficiencies. Ultimately, the DCHS budget was only reduced by $514,417, or .6%, with no reduction is services or filled positions.

The recommendations included the following:

Savings from the retire-ment of 17 long-time employ-ees.

Increased reimburse-ment from VDSS for DCHS po-sitions focused on VDSS work.

Elimination of five posi-tions that were long vacant,

never filled or part of prior reorganizations.

DJJ Revenue for Child Behavioral Health Services.

Reduced match for Chil-dren’s Services Act to reflect current rate of spending.

In addition, funding is included in the budget to respond to two areas of need identified by the City Manager: responding to the Opioid Crisis and improving access to ESOL services. Funding will be pro-vided to create a position that would lead the inter-depart-mental, multi-system approach to address the opioid crisis and other addictions that lead to opioid use. In addition, fund-ing will be provided to so that 50 individuals could receive ESOL training that focuses on job readiness.

While this budget avoids many negative impacts, it is important to understand that many of these strategies cannot be used again. We are moving toward a state where our options will be limited and service impacts cannot be avoided. We will embark on a priority-based budget-ing process in the coming months that will assist us with this work in the future. Your participation in the process will be important and valuable. Thank you!

Services and the Alexandria Residential Treatment Center (ARTC). They were careful to avoid programs in which clients developed long term therapeutic relationships so as not to disrupt the recovery process.

The new position not only benefits the program but also presents a range of opportuni-ties for a therapist.

“The value of the posi-tion isn’t just to fill vacancies, fill programs or meet Center needs,” says Gabriel Duer, who participated in the recruit-ment and hiring process. “It is a great opportunity to be cross-trained across programs and learn and absorb knowl-edge about different services. It gives a sort of panoramic view of the Center and our services.”

The process faced an initial bump when the first person to step into the role ended up a perfect fit for one of the vacant positions, leaving the floater position vacant again for a little over a year.

Those who developed the position knew they would face some challenges in recruit-ing for the position. “It takes a special kind of person who wants to learn and become seasoned in a range of differ-ent skills,” explains Liz Wixson, Director of Clinical and Emer-gency Services.

Then last fall, the Center hired Amanda Gill, a Licensed Professional Counselor who is also a Board-Certified Dance Movement Therapist. After completing her undergradu-ate degree at George Mason University, Gill did her gradu-ate work in Boston at Lesley University, one of the five programs in the United States at the time offering Master’s programs in dance therapy and counseling. Gill has extensive experience in crisis counseling including inpatient and partial hospitalization programs serving the Latino population, community based family trauma work and mili-tary counseling.

Gill was attracted to the floater position because of the opportunity to be exposed to populations and programs she had not worked with before.

“It seemed a great way to build new skill sets and apply my expertise in dance therapy and trauma in different pro-grams—and there is a need in Alexandria for bilingual clini-cians,” Gill says.

Gill started by covering a vacancy at Emergency Services (ES). Duer trained her in the position and she spent three months there.

Starting off in ES was intentional, says Wixson. ES has one of the longer training periods and the Center wanted

to make sure that Gill had that training under her belt if she had to fill in there again in the future.

Gill’s next stop was ARTC, where she has been covering a vacancy for the past three months.

Though Gill has only been in the floater position a short time, the Center is already reaping the benefits—both from having someone in the position as well as the unique contributions Gill brings to the Center.

“Having a floater has actually achieved what we in-tended in terms of being able to have an agile response to critical vacancies,” says Layer. “For a long time, the priority need had been in Emergency Services, but when staffing stabilized in that program, we were able to move the floater position to Substance Abuse Services to fill a critical vacancy there.”

Gill has also been able to help the Center identify gaps or holes between programs and services.

“She gets to know the ins and outs of the programs,” says Wixson, who encouraged Gill to evaluate the programs from the client’s perspec-tive. “She gives us a clinician’s perspective as someone who has worked on two teams and helps us identify what can be

done to make those programs and the linkage between them stronger and more meaningful for our clients.”

“My lens has refocused to better put myself in the shoes of the client,” reflects Gill, “which helps me see more clearly the cross connections between the programs.”

Gill’s unique background and skill set has also benefited the Center in other ways.

At ARTC, she established a yoga trauma therapy program with two one-hour groups a week—a first for the program. Using assessment and process skills from her dance therapy background, she created the sessions to help clients develop mind-body awareness and centering skills to foster a more positive connection to their bodies so they can better understand and listen to the internal sensations they are having.

Where will Gill go next? That depends on a number of factors, says Wixson, including where the needs are, what is appropriate as well as input from Gill.

“We want to be mindful of what it’s like to be in Aman-da’s shoes and to be moved around,” says Wixon. “She’s incredible, a great match for the position, and we want her to love her work and continue to grow with us.”

CLOSING THE GAPS — CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

4 C O N N E C T J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 5

TOWN HALL TO FOCUS ON OPIOID CRISIS

More about..

Volunteers Gather for Annual PIT CountCount provides a snapshot of people experiencing homelessness in Alexandria

In the early morning hours of January 25, over 20 volun-teers gathered to take part in the annual Point in Time Count in Alexandria.

Every year, the Depart-ment of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires communities to conduct the one-night “snapshot” of people living in emergency shelters or transitional housing as well as those living unsheltered. The count helps convey the scope of homelessness, identify and assess unmet needs and gaps in services, inform funding and other planning decisions and evaluate progress made in preventing and ending home-lessness.

The PIT count isn’t simply about numbers, however. Volunteers also carry with them a survey with a list of questions designed by HUD and local Continuum’s of Care to learn more about why people are

homeless. This year’s volunteer group

was larger than normal. “Much planning was

involved with this year’s PIT Count,” says Jessica Lurz, the di-rector of the Office of Commu-nity Services, which oversees the local count each year.

OCS and Projects for As-sistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) staff met several times in the months prior to divide the city into five sections, so that volunteer groups had manageable sec-tions to canvas the morning of the count. PATH identified areas in the City that would be potential spots where residents experiencing homelessness may be sleeping that night such as parks, overpasses and park-ing garages.

In addition, several trainings were conducted with volun-teers to discuss safety while conducting street outreach, how to ask some of the ques-tions on the survey and the purpose of the annual count.

This year’s volunteers—from OCS, Carpenter’s Shelter, Christ House, Alexandria Community Services Board, Volunteers of America-Chesapeake and the DCHS Domestic Violence Pro-gram—gathered at a command center at 5 a.m. to stock up on supplies they would need that morning, including incentive bags with toiletries, hand and foot warmers and snacks to thank participants for complet-ing the surveys.

They spent the next seven

hours canvasing the city and completing the surveys by hand for all persons they found sleeping outside, in a car or in another place not meant for human habitation.

This was the first PIT Count for volunteer Joseph Perry, a Community Services Program Coordinator with OCS.

“I was excited to be a part of the groundwork and outreach efforts,” he says. “I feel that a worker in this field gains the most insight and knowledge about the population by liter-ally ‘meeting clients where they are.’”

Perry also reflected on the importance of seeing the count from the client’s side. While his favorite part about the experi-ence was being a face attached to an organization providing outreach support, he appreci-ated how, to the client, he was “a stranger invading someone’s home, and privacy, asking for information.”

“Although I am a face of outreach, I am also a face of a system of which they may be skeptical and feel has neglected them,” he reflected. “I look for-ward to bridging the gap again next year.”

Results for the 2018 PIT Count will be available in late March. ~Jessica Lurz contrib-uted to this article.

Drug Drop-off Box Now in Del RayDel Ray Pharmacy opens first permanent prescription drug drop-off location

Last month, The Neighbor-hood Pharmacy of Del Ray opened the first-ever perma-nent prescription drug drop-off box in the City of Alexandria.

The drug drop-off box pro-vides year-round access to safe drug disposal for all Alexandria residents.

The Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (SAPCA), Alexandria Police Department, Alexandria Sheriff’s Office and DCHS applaud pharmacy co-owners Stacey Swartz and Barbara Hayward for taking this important community action that will aid efforts to reduce the amount of unwant-ed drugs in the city.

In addition to the perma-nent drop-off site, SAPCA will continue to hold Prescription Drug Take Back Days. In the past year, Alexandria has held four— the only city in the nation to host that many. In 2017, SAPCA collected more than 1,000 pounds of drugs.

The addition of the per-manent drop-off box will help address the local impact of the national opioid crisis, which is rising to epidemic proportions across the nation. According to the CDC, more than 42,000 people died from overdoses in 2016, up 28% from the year before. (Read more about the crisis and how Alexandria is

responding below.)Disposing of expired medi-

cation properly is an impor-tant way residents can work together to keep their homes and streets safe.

Those living outside of Alex-andria can take advantage of their communities’ local “take back” or mail back program or medication drop box at a police station, DEA-authorized col-lection site or pharmacy. Find local pharmacies participating as drop-off points as well as locations to pick up free drug disposal kits at alexrenew.com/DrugDisposal.

On February 28, the City of Alexandria will host “A Community Conversation: Heroin and Other Opioids,” a town hall meeting focusing on the local impact of the national opioid crisis and how City programs and services are responding.

The event will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in the auditorium of the Minnie Howard Campus of T.C. Williams (3801 W. Braddock Rd.).

Incidences of opioid addiction, overdoses and deaths have risen dramatically across the nation to levels on par with the peak of the AIDS epidemic. The crisis affects all ages, ethnicities, income levels and communities—including Alexandria—where the consequences of opioid misuse and addiction are affecting not only those who are addicted, but also their families, local schools and neighborhoods.

The Community Conversation is being coordinated by the Opioid Work Group, comprising rep-resentatives from a range of City programs and partners including social services, law enforcement, schools, health providers and a local coalition. The Work Group takes a multidimensional approach to confronting the crisis by focusing on opioid addiction prevention and treatment, overdose response and recovery, diversion of addicted persons into treatment, and supply reduction and law enforcement strategies.

This event will feature a panel of representatives from City programs and partners describing the crisis and the approaches offered to address it locally. The town hall will also be streamed live at alexandriava.gov, and panelists will answer questions from in-person attendees and online viewers following the presentation.

For more information about the event and the City’s response to the opioid crisis, visit the Com-munity Conversation: Heroin and Other Opioids webpage.

On January 5, 2018, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at The Neighborhood Pharmacy of Del Ray.

Joseph Perry conducts survey in the woods with a person who is home-lessness.

6 C O N N E C T J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 7

Communicate with Style!City Style Manual helps maintain consistency and professionalism

cohesion and credibility while interacting with and present-ing those services to the public and City partners. Internally, the manual also helps save on costs, makes tasks easier and more streamlined, and in the case of web applications, pre-vents third-party advertising, provides security and privacy and gives the City ownership of the data.

The style manual is avail-able on AlexNet at alexnet.alexandriava.gov; click on the Style and Graphics Manual

link under Resources in the left hand menu bar. Here are a few highlights to help maintain consistency and professional-ism while communicating with residents and the public.

Email SignatureA signature quickly identi-

fies an employee, a program and a department. It lets people know who employees are professionally. Signatures should comply with the format in the example on the bottom of the next page. Use default

or Arial fonts (no colored fonts, please).

Include a pager number, fax number or address if needed. The web link can go to DCHS or City site. Please do not include quotations or graphics (includ-ing photographs, smilies and animations) or use stationery; the background of your email must be plain white. Include confidentiality statements if needed.

To change email sig-natures in Outlook, go to File>Options>Mail>Compose Messages>Create or Modify Signature. In Office 365, go to Options (circular icon to the left of help)> Settings>Mail>Email Signature; check “Automatically include” and save.

For City-issued mobile phones, change the factory installed signature (example: Sent from my iPhone or Sent from my DROID) to the format

above and remove the smart phone message. For instruc-tions on how to change the signature on your phone, visit alexnet.alexandriava.gov/Telecommunications

Business CardsAll business cards are

ordered and obtained through the City mailroom/print shop with Michael Hope, Box 25. See the required styles at alexnet.alexandriava.gov/Communications along with the forms for ordering.

LetterheadTo create printed corre-

spondence, locate the City-approved DCHS letterhead lo-cated on every desktop under DCHS Info>Letterhead. In the folder are letterhead files for each DCHS location. To add information for a division or program or a direct phone and fax number, do so in the signa-

DCHS houses a variety of essential programs and services to promote the well-being, safety and self-sufficiency of Alexandria residents, and the DCHS Communications Team supports those programs and initiatives through a wide range of methods.

The team—comprised of Manager Jennifer Cohen Cordero and public information specialists Joseph Davis and Carmen Andres—works collaboratively with staff and DCHS partners to promote the Department’s mission to improve or maintain the quality of life for all Alexandrians. A sampling of their services includes:

Develop and manage communication strate-gies for the Department as a whole as well as assist programs and services in developing their own ap-proaches.

Support staff in promotion of programs, events and initiatives through mediums like news releases, media coordination, program brochures, social media and graphic pieces like flyers, infographics, signs, posters and bookmarks.

Produce the Department’s annual report (see page 8) and the bi-monthly employee newsletter, Connect.

Develop and maintain the DCHS web site and AlexNet page.

Contribute and share DCHS news and information with City publications like AlexNews, FYI Alexandria and the eNews system.

Facilitate the implementation of on line surveys, donations, registration and ticket sales through City-approved tools as well as requests for social media presence.

Work with other City departments and partners in support of collaborative initiatives, like the Opioid Work Group and the Suicide Prevention Coalition.

To request flyers, invitations, posters or bro-chures—new productions as well as revisions or updates to former productions—use the online form. After you complete the form, a designer will be in touch with you to follow up and complete your request. (Note, use Chrome as your internet browser. Users re-port hiccups when completing the form using Internet Explorer. )

For other requests or assistance, email Jennifer.Cohen@alexandriava.gov.

DCHS staff interact with city residents every day in a variety of ways, and the City’s Style and Graphics Standards Manual is one tool that helps maintain consistency and qual-ity in electronic and printed communication—from email, web pages and social media to correspondence and slide presentations.

The City has a wide range of services and programs that serve Alexandria residents, and the style manual builds a sense of professionalism,

ture line of the letter. Please do not use any other form of letterhead other than these.

PowerPointsPlease use the following

templates for Power Point presentations: for internal and external presentations, use Template 1; for internal use, Template 2; for graphics heavy presentations, use Tem-plate 3 and Template 4.Also, see these helpful tips for avoid-ing “Death by PowerPoint.”

Surveys, Payments/ Donations, Registra-tions and All Third-Party Web Application Use

To develop public on-line surveys, registration or pay-ment/donation sites, first con-tact DCHS Communications. The City has its own tools with robust functionality and use of third-party on-line services is prohibited without approval,

including applications like Sur-vey Monkey and EventBrite.

Social MediaGenerally, program initia-

tives and news are posted in City-wide social media accounts. To create a program specific presence on a social media site, staff must be prepared to develop a social media plan, complete an appli-cation and receive application approval from DCHS Commu-nications and the Department director. DCHS Communica-tions will present the appli-cation to the City’s Office of Communications and Public Information (OCPI) for review. Those under consideration will have an opportunity to pres-ent their plan to OCPI.

For questions about these or other guidelines, please contact DCHS Communications Manager Jennifer.Cohen@alexandriava.gov.

THE DCHS COMMUNICATION’S TEAM - WE’RE HERE FOR YOU!

More about..

optional

use dots, not dashes, for phone numbers

your direct line

your mobile line

Remember to change the factory installed signature on your City-issued mobile phone!

Imag

e by

by

Wae

wki

dja

/ Fre

epik

8 C O N N E C T J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 9

DCHS Highlights

ALEXANDRIANS HONOR NATIONAL HOMELESS PER-SONS MEMORIAL DAY

On December 21, Alexandrians gathered with people from all over the Metro DC area at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., to recognize National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day and celebrate and honor the memories of 42 persons who died in 2017 while experiencing homelessness and the 74 people who died shortly after being housed.

Since 1990, the day is observed in communities across the nation on the longest night of the year to bring atten-tion to the plights of those experiencing homelessness.

The events, co-sponsored by regional faith groups and organizations serving the homeless, included a vigil the night before with a service at Luther Place memorial Church as well as a memorial service at New York Avenue Presbyte-rian Church in the following day.

Dana Woolfolk, DCHS Homeless Outreach Coordinator and a member of Faces of Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau, had the honor of reading the names of the individuals who have passed.

During the service, Vigil attendees also heard remarks from homeless activists, ministers and rabbis as well as testimoni-als and lit candles in memory of those who passed away.

For more information about the annual event and those experiencing homelessness, visit www.nhchc.org or nationalhomelessness.org. ~submitted by Dana Woolfolk

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES PROGRAMS ACCREDITED!

Six DCHS programs were accredited or reaccredited by CARF, the international Commission on Accreditation of Reha-bilitation Facilities. CARF accreditation signals a service provider’s commit-ment to continually improving services, encouraging feedback and serving the community. Clients can be confident that the providers strive to offer the highest quality services, and the public, includ-ing taxpayers, other funders and referral

agencies can be assured the providers are accountable. Congratulations to the following DCHS programs: Parent Infant Education (PIE), Developmental Dis-ability Child Case Management, Youth Prevention, Mental Health and Develop-mental Disability Employment Services, and Developmental Disability Commu-nity Integration Formerly known as Day Support).

WDC PARTNER FEATURED ON DCW50

Earlier this month, DCW50 ran a news story featuring Global Center for Refugee Education and Science, a new non-profit that collaborates with the Work Force Development Center.

The organization, which teaches Eng-lish language skills to female refugees, drew the attention of WDC during its pilot phase. WDC referred clients to the program and provided additional funding, allowing the sessions to grow

from eight weeks to fourteen.Read more or watch the video at

dcw50.com.

Serving Alexandria ResidentsTake a moment to view the

2017 DCHS Community Impact Report learn about how DCHS programs and services are improving or maintaining the well-being, safety and self-suf-ficiency of Alexandria residents and the community.

The 28-page report—filled with eye-catching infographics and full-page photos—high-lights not only the work of the Department but the impact felt throughout Alexandria.

The report opens with a message from Director Kate Garvey and a review of the DCHS vision, mission, value and principles followed by high-lights from each of the three direct service centers:

Center for Children and Families served residents through a variety of programs, including 775 served in child and family behavioral health,

Read the 2017 DCHS Community Impact Report online776 in infant and toddler con-nections and 517 preschoolers in Al’s Pals, a science-based program that utilizes puppets to teach children to be good decision makers. The Center also engaged over 6,000 youth and parents through youth de-velopment programs like Alex-andria Campaign on Adolescent Pregnancy and the Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition of Alexandria. In addition, the Center coordinated training for 100 service providers on creating inclusive services for transgender community mem-bers and educated 550 commu-nity members on recognizing, reporting and preventing child abuse and neglect. Staff also made 549 family assessments and child abuse investigations and served a monthly average of 97 children and youth in foster care.

Center for Adult Services supported 41 residents through the Adult Day Services Center, 149 through the West End Wellness Center, 44 through TRAILS and provided per-manent or transitional living arrangements to 235 residents with severe mental illness, in-cluding those with co-occurring substance use disorders and those with developmental dis-abilities. Over 270 were served in the Substance Abuse Resi-dential Treatment Center and 175 in the Opioid Treatment Program. The Center provided 979 adults with mental health and substance abuse therapy services and investigated 208 reports of suspected adult abuse, neglect and/or financial exploitation, of which 96 cases were founded.

Center for Economic Sup-port provided shelter for 244

individuals in the Alexandria Community Shelter and 292 in the Winter Shelter. CES programs and services assisted 2,778 with financial stabiliza-tion services and rent relief and provided 79 rent subsi-dies to seniors and persons with disabilities. Residents were also served through the Workforce Development Center, which placed 536 in jobs, conducted almost 300 employee workshops and hir-ing events and facilitated over 5,700 Career Center and Youth Career Academy visits.

Read more about these and other highlights, community and volunteer programs and a financial overview of the fiscal year at alexandriava.gov/DCHS. The success of DCHS is all made possible by commu-nity partners, DCHS staff and other city employees.

1 0 C O N N E C T J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 1 1

Image by mrsiraphol / Freepik

COMMON GROUND EXPERIENCE UPDATE

Between June and November 2017, over 575 employees attended 28 ses-sions of the Common Ground experience, which is designed to foster a positive and collegial workplace and provide an op-portunity for staff to reflect on how they engage with colleagues and clients and enhance their roles in creating a positive work environment.

All DCHS employees are required to participate in one Common Ground session. If you have not yet participated in the experience, sign up for one of the two sessions scheduled for April 11 (8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. or 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.) by emailing dchsrsvp@alexandriava.gov.

The training was recently added as re-quired training in the Training and Person-nel System (TPS), and all new employees will be required to take the training within the first six months of employment. To find out what trainings and requirements are associated with a position, go to alexnet.alexandriava.gov/DCHS and click on TPS under the Information & Resources section.

DCHS STAFF RECEIVE MLK SPIRIT AWARD

Several DCHS staff were among those honored with the first annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Spirit Award at the City’s 22nd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration.

The award recognizes employees who exemplify Dr. King’s leadership and vision through their commitment to social jus-tice, diversity, inclusion and service.

This year’s inaugural award was pre-sented to the Volunteers in Public Service team, which included DCHS staff members Noraine Buttar, Jennifer Cohen Cordero, Jen Enslen, Krystal Fenwick, Lauren Kief-ert, Kimberly Taylor and Lisette Torres. They were chosen by the city manager to receive this award in recognition of their collaborative work in promoting City vol-unteer opportunities, developing volun-teer policy, implementing new software to track volunteer hours and producing the City’s first annual Volunteer Appreciation Event and a Volunteer Recruitment Event.

DCHS TEAM PUBLISHED IN NATIONAL MAGAZINE

DCHS Director Kate Garvey and the members of the Alexandria Early Care and Education Work Group were published in the December 2017 issue of Policy & Practice, the magazine of the

American Public Human Services Associa-tion. Their article, “A Common Agenda: A Strong Start in Life and School,” describes the Work Group’s efforts to create a col-laborative and comprehensive system to promote early care and education for Alexandria’s children.

View a complete list of Work Group members, including DCHS staff and part-ners at www.actforalexandria.org/early-care-education.

HOLIDAY SHARING SERVES LOW INCOME FAMILIES

While the holiday season is meant to be a joyful time, for many DCHS clients it is a time of great financial challenge and worry. The Holiday Sharing Program serves as a conduit for the community to extend a hand to some of Alexandria’s most vulnerable by matching generous donors and organizations with foster chil-dren, low-income families and seniors.

Year after year, the program is a suc-cess due to support both from the com-munity as well as internally at DCHS.

“We cannot say thank you loudly enough,” says Fund for Alexandria’s Child Coordinator Krystal Fenwick. “Our extremely generous community spon-sored 693 low income families, 87 foster children and 217 seniors/individuals with disabilities in the City of Alexandria.”

CITY MANAGER RETURNS TO DCHS

On January 8, City Manager Mark Jinks met with 27 employees as part of his recent tour of City departments to hear directly from staff about the myVoice! Engagement Survey results. In the dialogue about ways to improve the organization, Jinks focused on the four survey areas with the least favorable results: recognition, profes-sional growth, trust in leadership and communicating vision and decisions. Employees actively participated shar-ing ideas and insights. The survey will be administered annually following revision to support results that can be more easily linked to actionable items.

STAFF CELEBRATE HISPANIC CULTURE

On February 5, the Hispanic Heritage Committee hosted a belated Three King Celebration, a tradition as important to many families in Spanish-speaking countries as December 25 is in the U.S.

The holiday, celebrated on Janu-ary 6, commemorates the story of the three wise men who brought gifts of frankincense and myrrh to the infant Jesus. Traditionally, children place grass and water under their beds for the king’s camels the night before; in ex-change, the Three King leave presents.

At the celebration, the committee shared videos and educational bro-chures and staff enjoyed a visit from three DCHS kings and a sampling of tra-ditional desserts, including tembleque (coconut custard), majarete (coconut and rice flour custard) and Arroz con

dulce (sweet rice porridge with raisins) and flan. ~by Tamara Gonzalez Star Award Nomination Form:

survey.alexandriava.gov/s3/ DCHS-Star-Award-Nomination-Form

Super Star Nomination Form:survey.alexandriava.gov/s3/

DCHS-Superstar-Award-Nomination-Form

DECEMBER 2017SUPER STAR NOMINEES

Star Awards Committee: Octavius Fulton, Avis Hunter,

LaShawn Gladney and Chrissy Campbell

STAR AWARD NOMINEES

None

JANUARY 2018

SUPER STAR NOMINEES

None

STAR AWARD NOMINEES

None

DCHS Star Awards

1 2 C O N N E C T J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 1 3

Hello & GoodbyeNEW STAFF

NATASHA ANDERSONNatasha Anderson joined DCHS as a Human Services Technician. She worked as a temporary em-ployee with Human Resources for one year prior to being hired as a full-time City em-ployee. Natasha brings several years of recruiting experience to the team and has a Master’s in Human Resources. She takes great pride and joy in her com-mitment to serving in both her work and her personal life. She is grateful to be a part of the DCHS Human Resources team.

EUGENE BRODETSKIEugene (Gene) Brodetski joined DCHS as a Fiscal Officer II. He worked four years with the

Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities Department in Alex-andria. Before that, he worked seven years in the City’s library system. He recently completed special assignment work in the Office of Management & Budget and a work rotation in the City Manager’s Office. He is a graduate of Georgetown University with an undergradu-ate degree in business admin-istration with concentrations in finance, international business, and economics. He also holds a Master’s in Communication, Culture & Technology from Georgetown. He is a family man with two very young boys, s he no longer has time for any other interests.

CRYSTAL CHAMBERLAIN Crystal Chamberlain joined DCHS as a Benefits Program Specialist.

YOCELYNE DOMINGUEZ CORNELIOYocelyne Dominguez-Cornelio joined DCHS as a case worker with Child Welfare Services. She interned in CPS from Au-gust 2016 to May 2017 before joining DCHS as a perma-nent employee. She recently graduated from George Mason University with a Bachelor’s in Social Work. She was born in Guatemala and has lived

most of her life in Virginia. She currently resides in Springfield and enjoys traveling, watch-ing Netflix, going to concerts and spending quality time with family and friends. She is excited and grateful for the op-portunity to work for the City of Alexandria to assist high-risk families.

STACEY HARDY-CHANDLERStacey Hardy-Chandler joined DCHS as the Director of the Center for Children and Families. She has 26 years of experience and training in social work and clinical psychol-ogy, facilitating transformative and experiential learning and promoting leadership and or-ganizational development. She

previously served as Director of Professional and Organiza-tion Development with Fairfax County’s Department of Family Services. Prior to that, she was the Director of Field Education for the Schools of Social Work at George Mason University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). While at George Mason and UNLV, she served in various capacities in-cluding Field Instructor, Gradu-ate Coordinator and Child Wel-fare Title IV-E Coordinator. She also developed the curriculum for UNLV’s forensic social work certificate program, which she coordinated for six years.

PATRICIA HUETEPatricia Huete recently joined DCHS as a Benefits Program Specialist. She earned Bach-elor’s degrees in Sociology and Psychology from Longwood University and attended Il-linois State University for her Master’s in Sociology, with a focus on refugees. She has experience working with CPS, APS and refugee populations.

She enjoys traveling, watching horror movies and snuggling up with her dog, Samwise Barkgee.

THULI KATERERERuvimbo “Thuli” Katerere joined DCHS as a Supportive Education and Employment Specialist with the TRAILS team. Prior to that, she worked as a residential counselor in the Safe Haven program. She has experience providing a number of services to persons with dual diagnosis in a residential setting as well as working with youth as a Therapeutic Day Treatment Counselor for the National Counseling Group. She brings additional experience with advocating and supporting vulnerable youth with her work at the Southern Poverty Law Center and Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights.

MERZEDES LEON DE LEONMerzedes Leon De Leon re-cently joined DCHS as a Family Support Worker at the Family

Engagement Unit and Child Welfare Division. She is from Guatemala and speaks Span-ish fluently. Merzedes has her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from George Mason University, and one thing she practices best is self-care. She has an extensive background in working with low-income and undocumented families. She is grateful for the opportunity to work with a wonderful team that assists children and fami-lies in the community.

GLORIA MARIN Gloria Marin joined DCHS as a Benefits Program Specialist.

MICHELLE MAYMichelle May recently joined DCHS as the SNAP/EBT Co-ordinator and manages the program at the Old Town Farmer’s Market. She spent the year prior interning with the previous SNAP/EBT Coordinator while she went back to school after switching careers from commercial interior design to pursue her passion for food

and nutrition. She continues to work towards her Master’s Degree in Food and Nutri-tion through the University of Alabama’s accredited distance program. She looks forward to her new career as an educator, supporter and, most impor-tantly, a cheerleader for the residents of Alexandria, her coworkers and beyond to have good health and well-being in their lives. She currently resides in Alexandria with her husband and their adorable cat and enjoys binge watching her favorite shows, playing games and spending time with family and friends.

DALMA PANOZODalma Panozo recently joined DCHS as a Benefits Program Specialist. She previously worked for the Fairfax County Department of Family Services. She has a Bachelor’s in Psy-chology from George Mason University. She enjoys spend-ing time with her family and friends, traveling and trying new cruises.

Imag

e by

Jan

noon

028

/ Fre

epik

1 4 C O N N E C T J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 1 5

News You Can UseSUBSTANCE ABUSE CENTER RENAMED

The Alexandria Social Detoxification Center has a new name. The Department of Community and Human Ser-vices recently announced that the program formerly known as “Detox” will now be referred to as the Alexandria Residen-tial Treatment Center (ARTC), pronounced “Artsy.” The name change for the program located at 2355 Mill Road was driven by a change in Virginia’s licens-ing regulations. Residential treatment staff acknowledge a benefit of the name change — from Detox to ARTC — as a more accurate and respect-ful description of what occurs through the program.

As in previous years, ARTC provides an intensive residen-

tial setting for Alexandrians who need to enter or re-enter treatment and recovery from a serious substance use disor-der. The program supports those who need a structured, clinically supportive setting to interrupt —with the goal of ending—their use of alcohol or illicit substances. Participants in the program typically have found that they are not able to manage their substance use on their own due to the severity of the symptoms related to their illness, the stigma attached to having such an illness, or the absence of an environment that supports recovery.

Individuals in need of co-occurring mental health treatment also may receive help through ARTC. The comprehensive treatment and recovery support services will remain.

Please help ARTC spread the word about its new name.

TUITION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FOR EMPLOYEES

Did you know that the City provides financial assistance for tuition and professional development to its employ-ees?

The Tuition Assistance (TA) Program assists full and part-time employees with tuition, books and lab fees at an accredited online or brick-and-mortar college, business school, university, graduate school, trade school, corre-spondence school or techni-cal/professional institution. The program allows up to $1,200 per fiscal year for full-time employees and $600 for part-time.

The Professional Develop-ment (PD) Program assists full and part-time employees with technical training programs, certification and other educa-tional training related to City career paths. The program covers up to $2,000 per fiscal year for employees pursuing educational opportunities that relate to their professional growth.

IRIS PEREZ-TORRES Iris Perez-Torres joined DCHS as a Case Worker with the Center for Children and Families.

JANETH RODRIGUEZ Janeth Rodriguez joined DCHS as an Employment and Train-ing Specialists with the VIEW Program.

JANE ROLANDERJane Rolander, LCSW, recently joined the Substance Abuse Outpatient Program as a Senior Therapist, filling one of the over-hire positions to help combat the opiate epidemic affecting

the Northern Virginia region. She is passionate about the field of addiction and recovery and brings five years of experience working with this population. In her free time, she enjoys practicing yoga, gardening and spending time with her husband and their dog, Scout. She is excited about joining such a talented team of people and is grateful for the opportunity to provide services to the commu-nity of Alexandria.

CHARLES WASHINGTON Charles Washington joined DCHS as a Case Worker with the Center for Economic Sup-port.

JESSENIA WINSTANLEYJessenia Winstanley, Psy.D., is a licensed clinical psycholo-gist who recently joined DCHS as a Senior Therapist for the Substance Abuse Outpatient Team. She is thrilled by the opportunity to provide SAOP services to the Spanish and English-speaking community of Alexandria. Born in Peru,, Win-stanley grew up in Fairfax. She completed her internship and postdoc at Wellspan Behavioral Health in York, Pennsylvania. She worked in the community mental health clinic and York hospital psychiatric inpatient unit. Her training emphasized CBT structure and methods, where she learned to effec-tively deliver person-centered cognitive and behavioral solu-tions in outpatient behavioral health and inpatient settings.

She enjoys spending time with her family—which includes her two kitties—and reading, watching her alma mater, The University of Virginia Cavaliers, play basketball and binging on Netflix when time allows it.

JOB CHANGEMinerva Baladejo is a

Family Partnership Meeting Facilitator. Victoria Bradley is a Senior Therapist with the PACT Team. Tara Brown is a Benefit Programs Specialist. Christina Davis the Vocational Coordina-tor with the PACT Team. Mulu Habte is a full-time registered nurse at Alexandria Residential Treatment Center. Michelle Mintling is the Child Welfare Services Program Manager for Foster Care and Adoption. Julia Thompson is a Benefit Pro-grams Specialist II.

RETIREMENTChristy Barnes, a Benefits

Program Specialist, retired after a year with the City.

Susan Mister, a Direct Sup-port Technician, retired after 36 years with the City.

Patrina Rice, a Benefits Pro-gram Specialist, retired after 27 years with the City.

Yolanda Rivera, a Benefits Program Supervisor, retired after 21 years with the City.

EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTSVelda Weathers, Family Services Specialist Supervisor with the Adult Protective Services Unit, recently received Certified Dementia Practitioner (CDP) certification. A CDP certification reflects a deep personal commitment on the part of front line staff, health care professionals and the organization’s sense of accountability by abiding by NCCDP Ethic’s statement, inspir-ing confidence and dedication in an individual’s professional knowledge through quality of life and quality of care provided by the CDP to the dementia patient. This certification compli-ments Weathers professional credentials and training, provid-ing her with additional understanding of the population that she serves and their possible ailments. ARTC is located

on Mill Road

Image by Pressfoto / Freepik

1 6 C O N N E C T

Requests to either program must be related to the em-ployee’s current job or career field and not interfere with work hours, unless otherwise approved by the supervisor.

If you are interested in ei-ther program, email the DCHS Learning Coordinator at allyson.coleman@alexandriava.gov. All forms must be received by the Human Resources at least 14 days prior to the start of the course. For more information, visit alexnet.alex-andriava.gov/HR and click on “Tuition Assistance & Profes-sional Development Programs” under Quick Links in the left menu bar.

FREE TAX PREP NOW AVAILABLE

Last month, Mayor Allison Silberberg welcomed com-munity leaders throughout Alexandria at an event to inform residents about tax preparation options available through the IRS and State Free File programs as well as the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. The event kicked off the free tax preparation offered at DCHS’s 2525 Mount Vernon Avenue location. Taxpayers are eligible if their income is below approximately $35,000 for individuals and $54,000

for families. Expert volunteers from Community Tax Aid, Inc. will ensure that taxpayers apply for all applicable credits and deductions, especially the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit. See the flyer for complete details in English and Spanish.

TOUR THE CITY IN 360!

Whether you are recruiting for a position and want to pro-vide a taste of life in Alexan-dria or you are simply curious about a part of the city you have never experienced, Visit Alexandria has just the tool for you. Experience an immersive

What is Connect?Connect seeks to inform DCHS em-ployees about initiatives, programs, services and changes within the Department. It also introduces staff to one another on a more personal level, recognizes employee and team accomplishments, and helps foster relationship between programs and employees across DCHS.

Have a story to share?We are always looking for news and story ideas. If you have an idea for content, email carmen.andres@alex-andriava.gov or call 5753.

See a Significant Error?To report significant errors in this newsletter, please email carmen.andres@alexandriava.gov.

Are you leaving the City?Don’t miss out on important news and alerts! Sign up for the Behavioral Health and Human Services subscription group on eNews to continue receiving Con-nect content. The City of Alexandria’s free eNews service lets you sign up to receive information on nearly 100 top-ics, including vital emergency alerts. Go to www.alexandriava.gov/ Communications for the link to sign up.

Want to know more about DCHS Programs?Check out our Department webpages at www.alexandriava.gov/DCHS or read summaries of our Centers and programs with these summaries published in Connect: Center for Adult Services, Center for Children and Fami-lies, Center for Economic Support and Center for Operations.

IMAGE BY FREEPIK.COM

view of Alexandria through Visit Alexandria 360, which can be enjoyed on a phone, tablet, computer or a VR headset using the Visit Alexandria 360 app. The virtual reality tour showcases more than 20 local attractions and allows users to step onto historic Captain’s Row, bike the Mount Vernon Trail, dine on King Street, take in the stunning waterfront vista at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, enjoy a boat cruise into D.C. and explore historic sites such as the Stabler-Leadbeater Apoth-ecary Museum. Experience it all at www.visitalexandriava.com/360.