Employee Excellence Award Winners Announced

Recently, four members of our team were given the Employee Excellence award. Nominations are made by any staff for outstanding performance or service, with a focus on recognizing excellence in exhibiting one or more attributes of our RISE (Respect, Integrity, Service and Empowerment) and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) values.

Kathy Homan, Controller for Family & Children Services, is our winner of the Employee Excellence – Agency Leadership Award.

Kathy’s nomination read, “Kathy…well, where do I begin. This year she has truly stepped up as a leader and has demonstrated her ability to persevere and multitask to the highest level. Kathy has played an integral part in both the spearheading and implementation of our new finance software and has also worked hard with the HR team on implementing the new HRIS to ensure all items in both the general ledger and payroll converted without a hitch.
Kathy is always challenging herself to learn more and do better, and is also willing to roll up her sleeves and pitch in. Although she is behind the scenes and sometimes not seen, she is always present and available with a positive, upbeat attitude and is open minded to try something new, different, or intuitive, even if it means investing time and energy into applying for and researching federal grants. Kathy ensures all decisions are done without bias, are equitable, and presented in a respectful manner. Kathy has been a stable and solid performer and a great leader to her staff. I am proud and grateful to have her as part of my team. She makes me want to better myself!”

Thank you, Kathy, for the many ways you keep the organization on steady ground. We appreciate you!

Whitney Higgins is our second winner of the Employee Excellence Awards.

Chanda Webster, Whitney’s supervisor, had this to say about her. “There are many reasons why I enjoy working with Whitney and many reasons why she deserves the Employee Excellence Award. Whitney is cool as a cucumber at all times. When the emotions of others (peers, parents, foster parents, etc) are running high, Whitney is able to remain calm, address the issue at hand, and make well thought out decisions. Observing Whitney in the courtroom is like watching a masterclass on how to present thorough, concise, and compelling testimony. Whitney is an advocate for parents and youth, she has great insight, she is sensitive to the needs of others, and she has a unique ability to find a positive way to address difficult topics and situations.
Attorneys, court officials, DHHS staff, other service providers, Foster Care Supervisors, Foster Care Specialists, and other Family & Children Services employees have also recognized and commented on Whitney’s exceptional clinical skills, professionalism, and outstanding job performance.

Over the years I’ve watched Whitney’s skill and confidence grow. In 2023, Whitney was promoted to the role of Foster Care Team Lead. With this position Whitney continues some of her Foster Care Specialist responsibilities but also, because of her understanding of the value of data, she has taken on the unit Tier 1 meetings, which focuses on gathering, understanding, and improving the unit data. Also, with the Lead role, Whitney understands that her caseload can change as needed and when case transfers occur, the Lead Worker(s) will likely be assigned the more challenging cases.

What makes Whitney deserving of the Employee Excellence Award is what she does outside of her basic job requirements. Whitney pays attention to what’s happening on her team. She is knowledgeable about the professional and sometimes personal struggles of her peers. With this knowledge, Whitney actively seeks ways to support others. She has been an official and unofficial mentor for many Foster Care Specialists over the years; sharing her knowledge, leading, guiding and offering support. While not explicitly planned, Whitney’s support of staff is key in assisting with employee retention and employee development.

There is so much more that I can say about Whitney but the best way I can summarize who she is and what she represents is to say Whitney Higgins operates with Respect and Integrity as she Serves and Empowers her coworkers and clients.
Thank you, Whitney for being such an incredible example of our RISE values! 

Amy Maxson is our third winner of the Employee Excellence Awards.

Susan Davis, Clinical Services Director, wrote about what makes Amy uniquely qualified for the award. “Amy began her work at Family & Children Services as a home-based therapist in the Family and Community Treatment (FACT) program. From there she moved in to supporting youth in the foster care system. She now focuses her skill on supporting families as they work to reconnect with their children.

Amy goes above and beyond to communicate and support the parents she works with. Many parents have commented on how supported they feel by Amy. Amy is a natural lead for her peers. She can demonstrate and coach them on how to become that support to the families she works with.  This leadership has been recognized by her peers and anyone that works with Amy.

Amy can present to another group of professionals or talk with parents, and you can see that they connect with her. Amy is an asset to what we do here at Family & Children Services, and I’m thrilled she’s on our team.”

Congratulations Amy on receiving this Employee Excellence Award. We appreciate you!

Our final award winner is Shae Goretzka!

Geena Didomenico wrote, “I would like to nominate the best supervisor I have ever worked with, Shae. Shae is someone that I can always count on to answer my questions, be there for me to vent or just be a caring, thoughtful, and wonderful supervisor. Shae demonstrates RISE values daily. She is respectful to all staff members, her team, and in talking with families. Shae is able to give all her attention and focus to all of us case managers as well as her own supervisor duties. Shae helps us set up healthy boundaries and provides us with guidance to help our families with what they need. She empowers me daily to do my job and be a better employee. Shae is there for me when I need to call and talk through a situation or if I am frustrated or discouraged, I can come to her, and she is able to listen and help guide me to a place of no judgement and how to handle the situation. I could continue talking about how amazing Shae is and how she shows up for us and the families we serve daily.

Shae received multiple nominations, including another one from Melinda Andrews who said this about her, “I am nominating my supervisor, Shae, for so many reasons. Overall, Shae looks at the responsibilities of her staff, and takes on tasks to make our jobs easier. In doing this, our team feels supported. Shae is a supervisor who gets it. She is a leader that joins her team in the grit, always willing to come alongside and do the hard work. She is truly a parent/client whisperer. She is able to see the bigger picture and validate everyone’s feelings, helping each person see value of all parties in a conflict and work toward a solution. Empowerment is part of Shae through and through. If there is a system, requirement, program, etc. that she does not understand or needs to learn more about, she makes arrangements for not only herself, but for her staff to learn the ins and outs so we are able to utilize a service and do our job better. Shea loves to learn about other programs that will benefit our clients to help them achieve their goals. She invites outside programs to our staff meetings so we build relationships and learn how these programs can benefit our programs. She celebrates each of our birthdays and shows value in each of us. She takes program goals seriously and praises us monthly for meeting our units. She will ask for our feedback in solving problems. The list could continue. They say a supervisor can make or break a job. I feel blessed to have Shae as my leader.”

Incredible work, Shae, thank you so much for working so hard on behalf of staff and clients alike!