Berry Street Web Docs Annual Report 2012 | Page 24

25 People / Our lifeforce Berry Street has the right people and organisational culture for quality service provision. Relationships are at the core of our work at Berry Street. We know that respectful relationships are a fundamental pre-requisite if we are to work constructively with our clients and help children and young people heal from the devastating impact of violence, abuse and neglect. We also know that respectful relationships are at the heart of our work with our adult clients and our capacity to work collaboratively with our many stakeholders. These relationships are formed by our skilled and committed staff, foster carers and volunteers. Attracting, retaining, supporting and developing these special people is a critical part of our work. New Initiatives »» T  he rollout of our Health and Wellbeing Strategy, which included health checks, a fund to support health and wellbeing activities, a pilot ‘stop smoking’ program and fortnightly health information through our staff newsletter – ‘Berryland Banner’ »» A very successful new residential care recruitment process, including shadow shifts »» Strengthening our approach to supervision, with a compulsory online module and one day session for all new staff and 19 senior staff completing a course on advanced supervision »» Transferring all relevant staff to the Modern Award Other highlights included: »» M  aintaining our commitment to staff training and professional development ($723,000 or 1.9% of salaries) »» Enabling 17 Gippsland staff to complete a Diploma of Community Services Work; 16 Hume staff to complete a Certificate IV in Child Youth & Family Intervention; 26 staff to complete a Diploma  of Management; 12 staff to complete a Diploma in Project Management; 90 residential care staff to attend Cybersafety training; 139 staff to attend Aboriginal Cultural Knowledge & Understanding training; 48 staff to attend a Building Resilience workshop; 176 staff complete First Aid training; 138 staff attend Organisational Orientation and 33 complete a four day Introduction to Family Therapy provided by the Bouverie Centre »» By focussing on timely responses to critical incidents, encouraging staff and carers to access our Employee and Carer Assistance Program, robust risk 24 B E R R Y S T R E E T A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 / / People management, supervision and support systems and processes, we kept our WorkCover premium 10% below the industry standard »» Granting up to five hours a week study leave to 39 staff and assisting seven staff with course fees (through our annual Fees Award) »» Fifty-eight students were supported through our Placement Unit. This investment is part of our commitment to the sector and also helps attract new staff »» Four hundred and fifty staff enjoyed our staff End of Year celebration and were inspired by performances from a number of young people from our Berry Street School in Noble Park We celebrated the success of: »» B  oard member, David Green - awarded an AM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours ‘for service to the community through leadership roles with social justice organisations, to welfare policy reform and to the community’ »» Board member, Lyn Allison - inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll for Women »» Board members Mary Clark (15 years), David Green & Peter Koren (10 years) - celebrated their outstanding contribution to our Board and Berry Street »» Pat Clinton – 20 years leading residential services in the South East with Berry Street »» Brett Dowling – residential supervisor in Hume received the Residential Care Leadership Award at the Resi Rocks Conference. Kylie Jones (South East), Kelly Gretton (Gippsland) and Maggie Hiscox (South East) were also all recognised for their great work with young people in residential care »» Nathan Joyce – foster carer in the South East was highly commended in the category of ‘Changing the Definition of Family’ in the 2011 Robin Clark Memorial Awards »» Mavis and Doug Corkhill - foster carers in the North recognised for 30 years of fostering »» At our 2011 Annual Celebration, we honoured: • Felicity Rorke (Senior Manager, Family and Domestic Violence) – Deb Kearsey Award for Outstanding Staff Member • Bruce Waites – Selina Sutherland Award for Outstanding Volunteer • Megan Wisewould – Early Career Award for her work with Take Two • Al Dobbs, Jim Ireland & Church Street Enoteca – Life Membership of Berry Street for their exceptional support I have had many great experiences during my five years here [at Berry Street], including the many Darwin and Broome trips, taking part in Diploma level training and extensive professional development opportunities. Chloe | former employee