CEO annual address

January 23, 2020

Mission work is never easy. Hours are long. Weeks, months, and sometimes years pass before the effort involved is recognized or bears results. The same is not true of commitment.

Commitment, dedication, passion – these are the quiet engines of our work, and they hummed without pause in 2019.

I am very proud of the work we do at Communities Connected for Kids and of the staff's level of commitment.

Caseloads are getting higher because of the challenges we face with opioid abuse, and the number of children coming into care is outpacing our ability to license new foster homes.

But our commitment never waivers, and the 2019 improvements to our system of care is evidence of that:

Our safety support teams kept more than half the children it reviewed out of foster care last year.

Nearly 170 children – more than our adoption goal for the fiscal year - celebrated the holidays with new adoptive families.

Fewer children lived in group homes, more lived with relatives and fewer had to be removed from home to begin with.

We created efficiencies, forged relationships and created opportunities.

And the community is beginning to pay attention.

More people are following our stories on social media and responding to our Forever Family segments.

In fact, a sibling group of six brothers and sisters found a home after their adoptive mother followed their stories on the news show last year, and another sibling adoption is underway thanks to the same program.

Commitment, dedication and passion are the quiet engines of our work. They created a momentum in 2019, and they will carry us through 2020.