Episcopal Community Services

ECS FAST Housing provides case management and permanent, subsidized housing to 42 families with a history of chronic homelessness. The program serves households in which the parent is recovering from behavioral health issues or a child has a disability.

Families live in rental units scattered throughout Philadelphia and receive services to help them succeed in independent living. ECS provides comprehensive and intensive case management, including weekly home visits, workshops and other family activities.

Community partnerships and innovative programming also help families on their path to independence. More than 70% of families attended three or more of the FAST program's monthly life skills workshops in 2009. ECS works to involve families in choosing the topics that matter most to them.

A local Episcopal parish, St. Thomas' Church, Whitemarsh, hosts the annual Be an Angel holiday dinner and Fall Harvest Festival for program participants. ECS volunteers provide household items to help families settle in their homes. Families in the program also conduct their own monthly participant committee meetings, coordinate outings to cultural and educational venues in Philadelphia and publish a newsletter.

Primary funding for ECS FAST Housing is provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Philadelphia Department of Human Services, with additional funding from the ECS endowment and annual giving. Housing is provided through a partnership with 1260 Housing Development Corporation.

Operating under a contract with the Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS), the ECS Foster/Kinship Care program fills a vital need for children who have been adjudicated into out-of-home placements due to abuse, neglect, or a parent's temporary inability to care for them. ECS is also one of a handful of agencies in the region to specialize in services for children with serious medical conditions and disabilities.

Each year, ECS provides safe, caring homes to more than 125 children. When a child is placed into foster or kinship (with a family member) care, ECS' goal is to achieve a permanent outcome for that child as quickly as possible. Sometimes that means working to solve the problems at home to allow for a safe reunification with a birth family. In other situations, adoption or another long-term custody arrangement is a better option.

ECS foster care was rated #1 among 24 local agencies on the new DHS report card. One key to successful outcomes is cultivating caring foster parents, especially those who can care for the growing number of medically needy children ECS serves. Continued education of staff and foster/kinship care parents includes interactive workshops on child and adolescent development and life skills training.

The ECS Home Care Department provides quality services to elderly and disabled persons living in the Philadelphia area.

One out of five seniors in Philadelphia lives in poverty, leaving long-term care at quality nursing homes out of reach and making the extra years ECS home care can allow them to live safely at home all the more valuable. With the provision of homemaker, nursing, and case management services, more than 150 clients experience greater quality of life and continue to live independently each year.

With regular in-home monitoring, assessments and follow-up care by home care staff, the total number of clients remaining in their homes and returning to their homes after hospitalization continues to grow, with 70% of all clients remaining in the program for 12 months or more.

Client referrals come from a variety of sources, including Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, managed care organizations, social service agencies, hospitals, clergy and through word of mouth.

The ECS Out of School Time (OST) program serves the diverse Feltonville section of Philadelphia, providing after-school and summer activities for children.

Primary funding for Out of School Time is from the Philadelphia Department of Human Services through a utilization-based contract administered by Public Health Management Corporation. A 15% match from the ECS annual fund and endowment is required.

ECS St. Barnabas Mission serves homeless women and their children, providing not only shelter but case management and related services to address the root causes of homelessness.

Intensive case management at the Mission helps families address economic and personal barriers to obtaining housing. While just under a quarter of families remain in shelter for only a few days or weeks, most residents stay for one to nine months. Three quarters of residents eventually move into safe, stable housing.

The Mission maintains high quality service and meets the diverse needs of families presenting mental health, substance abuse, poverty and other challenges. Each year, about 140 female-headed families (including about 200 children) find a safe haven at ECS St. Barnabas.

One thing most families have in common is young children - half of all the children served are age four or younger. Most families include just one or two children. The majority of mothers at the Mission are under 30, while about 20% are between the ages of 40 and 64.

ECS St. Barnabas operates under a contract with the Philadelphia Office of Supportive Housing, which provides all resident referrals.

Half of the children at ECS St. Barnabas Mission are age four or younger. For older children, homelessness can mean transferring to a new school and other factors that can interrupt educational progress at a crucial time. That is why ECS St. Barnabas provides both the Butterfly Pre-School and After-School programs.

The Mission's educational programs rely on grants, gifts and unrestricted funding to serve nearly 100 children each year with enriching, age-appropriate activities. Services vary based on the needs of the child and the family. ECS offers educational assistance, homework support, emergent literacy, math, arts and crafts, conflict resolution and more.

The staff works hard to include each mother in this process by having parent-teacher and group meetings and involving parent volunteers. Each mother receives a daily communication report on her child's day.

The education staff works closely with other ECS departments and community partners. The ECS Health Services department provides timely health assessments to shorten enrollment time for new students. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Homeless Health Initiative and Public Health Management Corporation provide health and developmental assessments.

The Mission is a licensed child care provider and a participant in the Keystone STARS program, a state program to improve, support, and recognize the continuous quality improvement efforts of early learning programs.

Low levels of literacy and basic education are a crisis in Philadelphia. According to a report by the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board, more than two-thirds of the jobs located in Philadelphia require intermediate levels of literacy, yet 52% of all Philadelphians fall below that threshold. That is why ECS Urban Bridges offers a array of adult education programs, including:

• English as a Second Language
• Adult Basic Education
• Pre-GED
• GED Preparation
  

The program serves about 150 learners annually, each with his or her own educational and personal goals. Some students are resuming their education after dropping out of high school, while others begin their journeys as Americans by learning English and studying for citizenship exams. Many students juggle work and family obligations to make time for classes because the program has developed a reputation for effective, personalized education.

At ECS Urban Bridges, adult learners benefit from small classes taught by professional teachers and one-on-one tutoring by student volunteers from St. Joseph's University and Villanova University. In recent years, 80% of adult learners have improved at least half a grade level on the Test of Adult Basic Education and 65% of English as a Second Language students have improved by at least 3 points on the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems test.

Innovation and collaboration between departments are key to any organization's long-term success. At ECS, many such projects are part of the department of professional development and program innovation.

In 2009, ECS developed, implemented and evaluated a new program called Vocation Advantage at ECS St. Barnabas Mission with funding from the Barra Foundation. The initiative adapted principles of cognitive behavioral therapy and career counseling to a social work setting, providing 21 homeless mothers with six one-on-one counseling sessions. The percentage of participants who have enrolled in an educational program increased by 63% by the conclusion of the program, and 91% of participants had identified a career goal and knew the educational requirements to reach it. ECS has developed a step-by-step guide to replicate and assess the Vocation Advantage program both within the agency and at four other shelters.

The Vocation Advantage program grew out of another pilot program, Teens Takin' Over, a series of 25 Saturday workshops for teens. The program uses an evidence-based youth engagement model in which teens participate in vocational and education support programs. In 2009, a team of 10 teens collaborated with WHYY's Learning Lab to produce their own documentary.

ECS provides the Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS) Parenting Collaborative workshop program, which teaches parenting and life-skills to help prevent out-of-home placements of children and reunify families in the foster/kinship care system. This program serves nearly 100 parents each year. A DHS survey indicated that 91% of participants improved coping and communication skills and that 87% would refer a friend or family member to the program.