Heritage, Hillside care workers see boost in pay but understaffing still an issue

Local nonprofit organizations are addressing the need for direct care employees by raising wages for what they call a vital but often undervalued profession.

In September, Heritage Christian Services said it would increase minimum wage for full-time direct support positions in its residential program to $17.25 an hour and will provide a 5.4 percent cost of living adjustment for most of the staff.

The pay bumps mean some 2,180 staff members benefit from the cost-of-living adjustment, and roughly 1,740 frontline workers will see an additional boost to their hourly wage.

Geitner
Geitner

Marisa Geitner, the organization’s president and CEO, said raising wages for direct support professionals recognizes the essential services they provide.

“There is an elevated need to recognize care professionals in a manner that is commensurate with the jobs they are doing,” she said, adding that direct support workers are essential to the organization. “We have to staff our front-line positions, or we don’t have a business.”

Heritage leaders said the wage increases were possible through state funding, including a cost-of-living adjustment from the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, as well as the agency’s emphasis on financial stewardship to support its strategic priorities.

Heritage Christian also boosted wages for care professionals in May of 2021, to $15.75 from $13.25. Certain shifts provided an opportunity to earn up to $19 an hour.

Geitner noted that the number of workers entering the field has flatlined as the need for the services Heritage provides continues to increase.

If she could, Geitner would add 100 workers to provide staffing relief for the organization, particularly when it comes to staffing its residential homes that operate around the clock, as well as its day habilitation centers.

She would then add 100 additional positions to help keep up with demand in the community.

Geitner added that the wage increase extends beyond a budgetary issue; it’s also a social justice issue.

Employees and care professionals at human services agencies across the country continue to confront gender- and race-related wage disparities, she added, noting some 80 percent of professionals in the workforce at Heritage identify as women, with 34 percent women of color.

The most recent pay increase for its frontline staff reflects the organization’s ongoing commitment to supporting and furthering diversity, equity and inclusion, she noted.

Heritage is also providing educational opportunities for employees so they can grow their skills in the field.

“As a society, we know we value the work direct care workers do, now we have to show we value the people who do the work,” Geitner said.

She added that Heritage also feels a sense of responsibility as one of the area’s largest nonprofits to take the lead on the issue.

“As a larger organization, we have more flexibility,” she said. “When we can go first, we will go first.”

Hillside – another of the region’s largest nonprofits – also enacted wage increases, setting the agency’s new minimum wage of $17 an hour for all positions there in early October.

The amount is up from the $15 minimum wage the agency set in May of 2021.

Maria Cristalli, Hillside’s president and CEO, noted the change will also positively impact many staff whose salaries are already above this new minimum.

Cristalli
Cristalli

“This is an important step in raising compensation for the many critical roles that our employees play in the lives of children and families,” she said.

Hillside employs nearly 1,800 people in a range of service areas including direct care, clinical and education. The organization is looking to fill a number of positions.

Its residential treatment and community-based programs support the needs of nearly 10,000 children, adults and families every year.

Cristalli noted that many direct care workers across New York – many who have young children – qualify for public assistance, so increased pay is critical.

“Our message in taking these actions is to show our government and state leaders that we want to support these workers who have given so much,” she said, adding “without workers, we can’t do the work.”

The nonprofit sector is not the only one making wage adjustments. Industries across the board are taking similar steps as employees’ views about work, as well as their opportunities for jobs through remote work, have increased.

The Rochester region has worked collectively to address the workforce challenges locally and at state and national levels, Geitner and Cristalli said.

They cited the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative’s Level Up Champions initiative as an example of such a local collaboration.

Since RMAPI introduced the initiative in September 2021, more than 100 organizations that collectively employ more than 100,000 people have made a commitment to wage enhancement, including Heritage and Hillside.

A total of 48 organizations have moved to $15 an hour for the first time since RMAPI’s wage enhancement challenge to the community in 2021, and more than 12,000 jobs have moved to $15 an hour or above.

Geitner said the collaborations help Rochester address the challenges better than other regions across the country.

“We’ve got a long way to go, but I’m proud of the progress we’ve made,” she said.

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Hillside to raise minimum wage

One of the largest child-and-family-services organizations in the eastern U.S. has raised its minimum wage to $15 per hour for all positions in the organization, joining a number of other agencies who this year have raised their wages.

Hillside President and CEO Maria Cristalli announced the change to staffers on Friday. The increase, which has been in development for several months, will take effect on June 5.

Maria Cristalli
Maria Cristalli

“I am delighted to announce this permanent shift in Hillside’s compensation structure,” Cristalli said, adding that the change will also positively impact those making above this new minimum in the future. “This is an important step in raising compensation for the many critical roles that our staff play in the lives of children and families.”

Hillside employs nearly 2,000 individuals in a range of service areas including direct care, clinical and education. The agency’s residential treatment and community-based programs support the needs of more than 10,000 children, adults and families annually.

“Hillside’s staff has done extraordinary work during the pandemic. We continue to advocate for increased investment in human services workers with our government partners. We believe our essential workers deserve the security of a $15-per-hour minimum wage today,” Cristalli said.

Founded in 1837, Hillside is one of the country’s oldest family and youth nonprofit human services organizations, and the largest of its type in New York state. The agency supports vulnerable children, adults and families through services delivered on residential campuses, in group homes and in a wide range of school- and community-based settings.

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Syracuse agency assumes operations of Hillside’s children’s clinic

A Syracuse-based organization has assumed the operations of Hillside Family of Agencies’ mental health outpatient clinic in Rochester.

Liberty Resources Inc., which already has a location on Humboldt Street in Rochester, on Monday transferred all of Hillside’s outpatient clinic staff and services to its Humboldt Street facility.

“We are extremely excited for the opportunity to expand upon our high-quality children’s behavioral health services in Monroe County,” Liberty Resources CEO Carl Coyle said in a statement. “Our clinicians are skilled, highly trained and focused on the needs of the families we support.”

Liberty Resources officials said the majority of services will be provided at the Humboldt Street location, as well as within two community schools in Rochester and one in Penn Yan, Yates County. The agency offers mental health, substance use disorder treatment and primary care to more than 18,000 individuals and families annually across its delivery system.

In December, Hillside tapped Maria Cristalli as CEO. Cristalli, who served as chief operating officer of the human services organization from January 2017 until July of last year, served as interim CEO through December, following the retirement of former CEO Dennis Richardson.

Last month, Hillside announced it would close its residential treatment facility in Seneca County, affecting 175 of its 235 workers. Among the reasons cited for the closure were challenges hiring and retaining staff at the facility and trends in residential care facilities statewide and nationally.

Founded in 1837, Hillside is one of the oldest family and youth nonprofit human services organizations nationwide. The organization offers an array of services for children and families ranging from primary preventive to residential treatment services.

Hillside served more than 14,000 children and families in 2018 through Hillside Children’s Center, Stillwater Children’s Center, Snell Farm Children’s Center, Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection and Hillside Children’s Foundation.

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Hillside to close Seneca County facility; 175 jobs affected

Hillside Family of Agencies plans to discontinue services at its Varick residential treatment campus when its lease expires in March 2020. The closure will leave 175 employees without jobs.

The campus, located on the site of the former Seneca Army Depot in Romulus, Seneca County, was leased in 2004 at the request of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services after a previous residential service provider ceased operations at the site.

Varick serves nearly 80 youths from across the state and employs 235 full- and part-time staffers. Hillside officials Wednesday afternoon said a transition plan is underway to relocate some Varick-based services to other Hillside campuses over the next several months. Hillside is working with family members and county and state partners to develop individualized plans for all affected youth in order to ensure “seamless continuity of care” as those 80 individuals move to other residential campuses and programs.

Some 60 full- and part-time staff positions will move with those programs to other Hillside campuses, officials said. The 175 individuals whose positions will not be moving “will be supported in pursuing other positions within the agency” or with other employers in the region, according to the statement.

The transition of youth, staff and programs is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.

“We have carefully and thoroughly considered all of our options and have determined this approach will be best for the youth we serve, their families, Hillside employees and our family of agencies as a whole,” Hillside’s new President and CEO Maria Cristalli said in the statement. “Over the last 14 years, we have created specialty residential treatment programs on the Varick Campus that have advanced our field and improved outcomes for countless youth and families. The work will continue on other Hillside campuses, where staff and youth can work in a safer and more updated environment.”

Officials said several key considerations led Hillside to determine the long-term lease should not be renewed: national and statewide trends concerning the demand for residential treatment services; challenges concerning recruitment and retention of direct-care staff on the Varick Campus; underused residential services capacity across other Hillside campuses; and necessary but cost-prohibitive improvements that would be required to the campus buildings.

Varick is the only Hillside campus operated under a long-term lease; Hillside’s residential campuses in Rochester, Chili, Auburn, Bath and Greene, Chenango County, are all owned by the agency and offer enough space to accommodate anticipated future demand for residential treatment services, officials said.

“While there will always be some youth who need high-quality residential treatment services, there are now more options for meeting the needs of some of those youth,” said James Purcell, CEO of the Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies, the membership organization for nonprofit child-welfare agencies in New York. “Further, Hillside is facing the same challenges all of our agencies are in recruiting and retaining an adequate workforce because of the low salaries we are funded to offer. I anticipate that our field will see more residential treatment reductions like this in the future.”

Related: Agencies that help people with disabilities struggle to find staff

Founded in 1837, Hillside is one of the oldest family and youth nonprofit human services organizations nationwide. The organization offers an array of services for children and families ranging from primary preventive to residential treatment services.

Hillside served more than 14,000 children and families in 2018 through Hillside Children’s Center, Stillwater Children’s Center, Snell Farm Children’s Center, Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection and Hillside Children’s Foundation.

[email protected] / 585-653-4021
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Hillside Family of Agencies names new leader

A 27-year veteran of Hillside Family of Agencies has been tapped to lead the nonprofit agency.

Maria Cristalli
Maria Cristalli

Maria Cristalli, who served as chief operating officer of the human services organization from January 2017 until July of this year, stepped into the interim CEO role following the June retirement of Dennis Richardson.

“Hillside is in a unique position to partner with communities to impact the lives of youth and families in this era of epochal change in human services,” Cristalli said in a statement. “I am highly energized by our dedicated and capable staff, who build lasting relationships with the people we serve every day.”

A graduate of the University of Rochester with a master’s degree in public health, Cristalli joined Hillside in 1991 and has taken on increasingly more responsible roles during her tenure. As chief strategy and quality officer, she provided vision, leadership and direction for Hillside’s strategic planning, quality improvement, business intelligence and healthcare functions throughout the agency, officials said.

“Maria Cristalli is second to none in her service to Hillside; her commitment to our youth, families and communities; and her deep understanding of this agency’s vital role in the ever-changing human-services landscape,” Hillside Chairman Ed White said. “She has earned the respect of the Hillside community, as well as our strategic partners and funders, many times over. With Maria at the helm, Hillside’s future is bright indeed.”

Founded in 1837, Hillside is one of the oldest family and youth nonprofit human services organizations nationwide. The organization offers an array of services for children and families ranging from primary preventive to residential treatment services.

Hillside served more than 14,000 children and families in 2018 through Hillside Children’s Center, Stillwater Children’s Center, Snell Farm Children’s Center, Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection and Hillside Children’s Foundation.

[email protected] / 585-653-4021
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Hillside’s Richardson to retire in June

Dennis Richardson
Dennis Richardson

Longtime Hillside Family of Agencies leader Dennis Richardson will retire in June, leaving a 24-year legacy of growth and nationally recognized services.

Richardson joined the child and family human services organization in 1994, following a stint as executive director of the Children’s Study Home in Springfield, Mass. Richardson also served as adjunct faculty at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work, as well as at St. Joseph’s Children’s Services in Brooklyn.

During Richardson’s tenure at Hillside, the organization grew from a $30 million organization to an annual budget of $160 million and a staff of more than 2,400. The agency partners with nearly 14,000 children and their families through 40 locations across Upstate New York, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

“Hillside is extraordinary; every day something wonderful happens at Hillside,” Richardson said in a statement. “It has been a great privilege to partner with such talented colleagues and people who care deeply for the well-being of children, families and communities.”

Hillside’s services range from primary preventive services to residential treatment facilities. Under Richardson’s leadership, Hillside developed nationally recognized innovative services and implemented cutting-edge programs for children and their families.

“We greatly appreciate Dennis’ leadership through more than two decades of growth and innovation at Hillside,” board chairman Bob Stiles said. “We look forward to building on Dennis’ legacy and we wish him the very best in his retirement.”

Hillside’s board has established a special committee to begin a national search for a new CEO.

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