Founder’s Day Message

Happy Birthday, Helena Devereux!  Today would be Miss Devereux’s 124^th birthday.

In prior Founder’s Day messages, I have focused on the extraordinary early career of Miss Devereux.   However, Miss Devereux’s father, Arthur Devereux, was also a fascinating character.  He was born in England, went to work in India, and came to the United States specifically to fight against slavery in the Civil War.   According to Miss Devereux’s biographer, after the war Arthur became a senior executive with the new Wells Fargo Pony Express and oversaw much of its early growth.

One hundred and forty years later, in the midst of a terrible financial crisis, Wells Fargo Bank – which grew out of the Pony Express venture – became Devereux’s bank when they acquired  Wachovia Bank.  Devereux has been with the same bank for more than sixty years, but, through acquisitions the bank has had five different names (Philadelphia National, Corestate, First Union, Wachovia, and now Wells Fargo).

It is important to me to remember Devereux’s rich history and deep roots in our communities.  We are living through very unsettling times, but we are doing extraordinarily important work,  and we have the support of the incredible organization which Miss Devereux built with her genius for helping children with special challenges, her business acumen, and her passion for our work.

Thank you for everything you do each day to further Miss Devereux’s work.  Happy Founder’s Day.

 

The Barack Obama Legacy – Will it be to Improve Education?

The dust from the election has settled. In a few short weeks, we will have a new administration in office, and many throughout the country have a renewed sense of optimism. While President Obama is inheriting some challenging issues, not the least of which is one of the worst economies in seven decades, he also has a blank slate to begin working on initiatives that are going to define his presidency.

His background is that of a community leader. His work to benefit the people and communities of Chicago has been well documented. He has also been a proponent of improving public schools, and has worked to improve Chicago’s inner-city schools. How might this work translate to his national education policies?

As a senator of Illinois, Barack Obama, along with fellow Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (D), Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont (I) and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) last year introduced the Positive Behavior for Effective Schools Act (S. 2111), legislation that would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 allowing state and local educational agencies, and schools to increase implementation of early intervention services, particularly school-wide positive behavior support.

Last week, President-elect Barack Obama named Arne Duncan, the head of the Chicago school system, to be the education secretary. In citing Duncan’s accomplishments in Chicago, the third largest school system in the country, Obama referenced that since 2001 he’s boosted elementary test scores from 38 percent of students meeting the standards to 67 percent, and the student dropout rate has gone down every year.

We can hope that the new administration, with Secretary Duncan at the helm, will work to improve our own system. Many schools are struggling to educate children at the fringe of our society – those in some of our most impoverished areas. There is hope, and that comes in the form of initiatives like School-Wide Positive Behavior Support, among other multi-tiered approaches, that helps to set the framework for all children to be educated in environments conducive to learning.

I look forward, with great optimism, to what the future may hold for all of our nation’s children.

 

Tropic Thunder

Very recently, DreamWorks produced a movie, “Tropic Thunder” that unfortunately makes a very negative portrayal of a person with intellectual disabilities. Throughout the film, several of the actors make use of the word “retard” in a misguided attempt to be funny while making fun of persons with intellectual disabilities.

Devereux’s founder, Helena Devereux, was a Philadelphia schoolteacher who, nearly one hundred years ago and against the conventions of that time, began her fight against such harmful stereotypes. She believed that all people, regardless of disability, have unique strengths that can be built upon to produce a life of meaning and hope. Out of her beliefs, and other like-minded pioneers, thousands of individuals with intellectual and emotional difficulties now lead lives of fulfillment and contribution.

Such insensitive use of stereotypes in the movie “Tropic Thunder” maligns persons with intellectual disabilities in a manner that produces harm and perpetuates cruel and teasing behavior in our nation’s schools and places of work.

Such stereotypes, particularly those that are meant to demean and embarrass, only serve to impede the progress of individuals with intellectual and emotional challenges as they seek to find the fulfillment and happiness in life that all of us deserve to pursue.

The families of the children and adults at Devereux face many difficult challenges in their efforts to provide the appropriate supports to a loved one struggling with a disability. Our society must not compound their struggles by perpetuating such cruel and uninformed stigmas.

 

Pennsylvania Campaign Meets its $20 Million Mark

To quote an African proverb, It Takes A Village to Raise a Child. For the children, adolescents and adults receiving services from Devereux, no truer words could describe the all-encompassing support they receive.

We have a stellar team of clinicians, direct care and support staff who work with our clients everyday. Working with families and agencies, they are making a difference in the lives of some of our most fragile citizens. Their work is dedicated to helping clients to achieve independence and learn important life skills.

We also have the benefit of generous supporters who donate to Devereux to help make the lives of our clients better. Earlier this month, we closed out an ambitious five-year capital campaign in southeastern Pennsylvania. We raised $20 million to support programs for children with autism and developmental disabilities at the Kanner center; adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities at the Whitlock center and children and adolescents with behavioral challenges and mental illness at the Beneto center. It was a daunting task, but one that was greatly needed. We are going to be able to improve the programs, services and residences for our current clients and also open up our programs to help more clients.

Devereux Chairman, Tom Hays, and Vice Chairman, Skip Genuardi, offered a generous $1 million challenge grant to help close out the campaign. Devereux parents, Lisa Yang and Hock Tan, along with an anonymous Chester County philanthropist, offered the final contributions that met the $1 million challenge grant and brought us to our $20 million goal.

Our most important stakeholders, dedicated staff, generous donors and supportive families work together to make the difference. By being a stakeholder in Devereux, you are part of the village that is changing lives and bringing hope to children, adolescents and adults everyday. For that, I offer you my heartfelt thanks.

 

It’s Good to be ‘Green’

Click to enlarge Congressman Jim Gerlach with Bob Kreider at our Earth Day celebration. Click to enlarge Employees enjoy an Earth Day celebration picnic.

It seems impossible to pick up a newspaper or magazine today and not find an article about “going green.” People are doing it. Businesses are doing it. Even cities, like our own Philadelphia, are promoting themselves as “green.”

The notion of going green seems to be more than a passing fad – it’s the “right” thing to do.

For Devereux, going green makes sense and in 2008 we are launching an organization-wide program to “go green.” We will be not only doing our part to support the environment, but we will also be saving money through the use of more energy efficient products.

The four operational areas we will focus on include:

1. Facilities: We will assess all of our existing buildings to see where extra insulation, new windows, different lighting or other initiatives could save money and reduce resource consum ption. All new construction will be developed from the ground up to reflect the “best green practices.”
2. Transportation will be another area of focus. Specifically, we will explore alternative fuels, hybrid vehicles, encouraging employee carpooling and employees’ use of public transportation.
3. Equipment and Technology: We will look at purchasing energy efficient equipment and technology to replace older equipment. We will also look to reduce power usage by turning off or “hibernating” equipment not in use.
4. Waste Management: Devereux will also look at furthering our recycling efforts to reduce the amount of waste we create.

Employees will also be encouraged to make changes at work and home to create a more ecologically friendly environment. Devereux’s corporate office will collect ideas from all parts of the organization about changes to help all of us live a more “green life.” If you are interested in joining Devereux in this effort, visit our Web site for our weekly “green tips.”

This initiative is a wonderful chance to engage our consumers, our staff and our communities in an effort to make the world a little bit better.

 

An ounce of prevention

Connect the startling observation that one in every one hundred adults in America is incarcerated (One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008, Pew Center on the States) with the equally disturbing fact that seventy percent of students with early and chronic antisocial behavior in school will be arrested at least once within three years of leaving school. (Walker, H.M., Ramsey, E., & Gresham, F.M. (2004). Antisocial behavior in school: Evidence-based practices (2nd ed.) Evidenced as early as kindergarten or first grade, chronic and persistent problem behavior is one of the best early predictors of delinquency. Pause to understand that we send one percent of our adult population to jail after years and years of classroom misbehavior.

Surely, we know that some children misbehave chronically in school. Our teachers and school administrators speak frequently and persuasively of these behavior problems in classrooms. How do we teach children to behave and follow rules? Unfortunately, the old, tired methods of punishment just don’t work. Traditional systems that rely on reactive and punitive measures are less effective in reducing disruptive behaviors than positive behavioral support. Just as importantly, detention and suspension do little to improve school climate. Teaching good behavior by positive behavioral support is an approach championed by Devereux’s Center for Effective Schools. In September 2007, the Philadelphia Inquirer published an article about the success of Logan Elementary School using this positive, proactive approach. The 486-student school documented a drop in discipline referrals since the Devereux program was instituted in 2003 (reported incidents dropped from 939 to 253 and suspensions from 353 to 123). Clearly, schools are willing and able to change the antisocial behavior of young children if they have appropriate resources.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We must work to prevent the continued rise in the percentage of Americans who are incarcerated. Young children who cannot control their behavior grow up to be troubled adolescents who lack self-control and frequently go to prison. A safe society requires many stakeholders – parents, grandparents, teachers, school administrators, community leaders, and business leaders. These stakeholders can prevent children from going to jail by supporting early detection and early intervention with the appropriate tools at a very young age. It is time to roll up our sleeves and begin our work with our youngest citizens.

 

 

Devereux’s New Chief Operating Officer

I am pleased to announce that long-time Devereux employee, Maggie McGill, has been named Chief Operating Officer at Devereux. Maggie had most recently served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, but her career with Devereux goes back much further.

Maggie started working for Devereux in 1975 as a residential care provider at our Kanner Center in West Chester, working primarily with children with autism. Maggie excelled in this role. She was well liked by our clients and their parents, as well as the staff with whom she worked. While well suited in this position, Maggie had other aspirations.

In 1984, then Devereux President & CEO, Ron Burd, was impressed with Maggie as he watched her sitting on the floor working with the children. Ron pulled Maggie aside and asked her what she would like to be doing with her career at Devereux. Maggie responded, “I want to go back to school and become Devereux’s Chief Financial Officer.”

While not the response Ron expected, he was nonetheless taken with her ambition and in 1990, awarded Maggie the first-ever Weaver Falberg Leadership Fellowship Promise. This annual award recognizes one individual with outstanding leadership potential, who is an exemplary role model and demonstrates a solid commitment to the mission of Devereux.

With this award came a scholarship that Maggie used to pursue an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Twelve years after completing her MBA, in 2004 Maggie was named Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Maggie’s success with Devereux as a residential care provider, supervisor, operations manager, Chief Financial Officer, and now Chief Operating Officer is rooted in her commitment to the mission of Devereux.

Her clear understanding of the important work Devereux does, has served her well in the thirty-three years she has been with Devereux and will serve her well as she helps lead us to Devereux’s 100^th anniversary.

I hope you will join me in wishing Maggie much success in her new role with Devereux.

 

FOUNDER’S DAY MESSAGE – February 2, 2008

Tomorrow, Founder’s Day, is Miss Devereux’s 123rd birthday. Every year, as we celebrate this important day, I am reminded of how the organization has changed and evolved in its ninety-six year history. I wonder, too, what Miss Devereux would think of the organization today and some of the current milestones, as well as challenges, we face.

As the nation’s largest, non-profit provider of behavioral health services, our success arises from the individualized, strength-based services we provide, services that she pioneered. As Miss Devereux said, “Every child is a program.” Her philosophy of care was identifying each individual’s strengths and building a program from that foundation. I think she would be gratified to see that our industry is finally understanding the wisdom of her insight into how to make a difference with each and every individual.

Today our organization is financially strong, in part because of the value of beautiful real estate Miss Devereux purchased across the country. I think Miss Devereux would be pleased by the funding we receive today from the government, support that she lacked in the early years. However, with government funding comes regulatory uncertainty, a concern that will continue to occupy us over the coming years. The generosity of Devereux families, community leaders, and foundations continues to support Devereux today as it did when Miss Devereux ran the organization. We must remain attentive to our mission to insure the continued good will of our supporters.

When looking back nearly 100 years at the contributions Miss Devereux made, it is significant to remember that she did this at a time when women were not afforded the right to vote. Critics went so far as to call her “a starry-eyed female, who has neither a husband nor a graduate degree; and who thus flouts the qualifications demanded by both Nature’s law and her academic betters for the role to which she has presumed.” Miss Devereux led the organization for forty years, surrounded by men in key leadership roles.

Today’s senior management team includes many outstanding men and women. Maggie McGill, a 30-year veteran at Devereux, last month assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer. Women also fill the strategic positions of Chief Clinical Officer, Senior Vice President of External Affairs, General Counsel, Vice President of Organizational Development, two operational Vice Presidents, Vice President of Product Development, and Executive Directors of eight of our fourteen centers. No doubt Miss Devereux would be very pleased that her organization is developing so many outstanding women leaders.

Miss Devereux would also be proud of our front-line staff who are, and always will be, the backbone of the organization. Their commitment to the individuals we serve, and to our mission, gives me confidence in Devereux’s future.

On this day before Founder’s Day, I am reminded of how far we have come and how successful we have been, in large part, thanks to the vision of Miss Devereux and the excellent work of our dedicated employees. I thank all of the Devereux stakeholders: employees; trustees; donors; and community leaders who support our mission each and every day. To Miss Devereux, I bid you a very Happy Birthday.

Bob Kreider

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As 2007, Devereux’s 95^th year, draws to a close,  I am very pleased with the work of the Devereux team this year, work both in the care of our consumers and in our care of our organization. Clearly, there can be no consumer care without a viable organization! It was a great year from several perspectives: in terms of client safety (major injuries decreased), employee satisfaction (turnover declined), community support (number of major donors increased), and financial strength (liquidity and fund balances increased while debt declined).  Additionally, during 2007, Devereux’s endowment increased by more than $25 million through the sale of two major pieces of real estate, one in Pennsylvania and one in California.  

A highlight of this year was the 95^th Anniversary Gala in November; this was a world class party attended by four hundred supporters at the Philadelphia Seaport Museum. It was our privilege to honor the Genuardi family for their long-standing and generous support of both Devereux and other critical charities in the region. During the celebration, we awarded the annual Weaver E. Falberg Leadership Promise Fellowship to support the graduate education of one of our outstanding staff members.  Through the generosity of the sponsors and a matching gift of the net proceeds by our Board leadership, the Gala raised almost $500,000 for Devereux’s Pennsylvania programs.

On a less positive note, the Federal government continued its efforts to reduce Medicaid expenditures. The reduction affects Devereux in two ways. First through audits, either state-wide or program specific, which search for non-compliance with federal requirements. Second,  draft regulations will negate the Medicaid coverage of long-standing approaches to consumer care. Although the direct risk from these initiatives to Devereux is modest, the potential impact on the states is catastrophic. Added to the very negative trends in state budgets – California and Florida are already forecasting enormous deficits for fiscal 2009 – public funding for the care of the intellectually disabled and behaviorally challenged will almost certainly be negatively impacted. 

Another major challenge for Devereux is the rapid growth of its major for-profit competitors.  Although Devereux is the largest non-profit provider in the country, two for-profit providers have rapidly grown to four times the size of Devereux, and these providers are formidable competitors.   

As we head into 2008, I anticipate the following critical work in front of us.   

• With the support of the Board of Trustees and the encouragement of many staff, we are undertaking a major “green” initiative. To this end, we will review our facilities, transportation, technology, and waste to find economical ways to reduce consumption of natural resources
  
• We are rapidly upgrading our marketing capacity to effectively compete with the major for-profit organizations. 
  
• We are also building upon the success of our outstanding prevention programs, including the resiliency-based Devereux Early Childhood Initiative and School-wide Positive Behavior Supports.  Specifically, we will be aligning resources, conducting research and forging community-based partnerships to ensure the continued development and adoption of cost effective, evidenced-based and sustaining prevention programs that improve outcomes for children and adolescents. 
  
•  In order to support our employees in healthful lifestyle choices, we are offering a significant discount on employee medical insurance if employees complete a health assessment, obtain age and gender appropriate diagnostic evaluations, and take steps to address the serious health issues of smoking and obesity. Through a partnership with NutriSystem, we will offer a weight reduction program to employees at a sharply reduced cost (and I will be among the first participants in this weight reduction program). 
  
• Through increased staff tuition assistance, we will increase our support for the continuing training and education of our staff. We view the training of our staff as critical to the execution of our mission and the optimization of our own best practices.  

I thank all of you who have helped build this wonderful organization and deliver on our mission: 

Devereux changes lives and nurtures human potential. We inspire hope, ensure well-being, and promote meaningful life choices.  

Happy New Year.

 

An Evening to Remember

On Friday night, November 16, the city of brotherly love was host to a special night for Devereux. Old friends from around the country and new friends from businesses in the greater Philadelphia area gathered to help us celebrate.

We were gathered to recognize the 95th anniversary of Devereux, a venerable Philadelphia institution built by education pioneer and humanitarian, Helena T. Devereux. We also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Institute of Clinical Training and Research (ICTR), another one of her extraordinary visionary ideas. Throughout the evening’s celebrations, I couldn’t help but wonder what Miss Devereux would think, looking out at a sea of 400 faces who were all there to honor the legacy she created.

This legacy is the nation’s largest, non-profit provider of behavioral healthcare in the country for individuals with intellectual disabilities, behavioral disorders and mental illness. We touch more than 15,000 people each year. What a testament to the woman who cared enough about the forgotten children sitting in the back of the classroom!

During the evening, we recognized Devereux’s outstanding employees, recipients from each center, of the Tom Donovan Culture of Caring Award, as well as Margo Volkmer the quality management coordinator for Devereux Texas, who was the 2007 Weaver Falberg Fellowship Promise Award recipient. Margo will be using scholarship money from her award to pursue a master’s degree in healthcare administration.

We honored a very special former ICTR intern and former Devereux chief clinical officer, Dr. Howard Savin, with the first ICTR Distinguished Alumni Award. In addition to his work with Devereux, Dr. Savin was a pioneer of the managed behavioral health industry in the 1980’s.

We also honored some very special friends of Devereux, the Genuardi Family. For eighteen years, the Genuardis have offered Devereux their unwavering support in numerous ways. The prestigious Helena T. Devereux Humanitarian Awards was given to a very special family and very special friends.

The evening was made even more memorable by the hundreds of friends who came to support Devereux. These friends, along with a cadre of generous event sponsors, helped to net $245,000 for the evening. With the generous match provided by the Tom Hays and Skip Genuardi challenge grant, the evening’s grand total was $490,000 raised for Devereux’s Pennsylvania campaign.

I thank all of you for making it a tremendous night for Devereux.