Greetings!
How are all of you? Anything new or different happen in the past couple
weeks….seems like stuff is operating pretty normally.
Wait actually, everything has been completely turned upside
down and inside out (sounds like a Raffi song) in a totally unpredictable and
unanswerable way. Which, as all of you know, isn’t necessarily the recipe for
feeling secure. So, I’m hoping that each of you is accessing support both at
home and at Seneca to be able to weather this in a way that allows you to be
safe and healthy.
I wanted to reach out again to everyone at one time and in
one place to first and foremost say, “thank you.” Thank you for getting
out of bed and eating breakfast and turning on your computers or phones to show
up for your clients and families in ways that are creative and thoughtful
during this completely scary and unsettling time. I have now joined almost
all of the team meetings and have been COMPLETELY blown away by people’s
willingness to think outside of the box and stay positive about figuring out
how to “do” the work in new and different ways. I know the ability to find
motivation and drive is especially challenging right now so please, please
continue to reach out for support and help as you navigate this new
normal.
While we are having all-staff next week, I also wanted to
use this opportunity to give some quick agency -wide updates. As I have
been saying on repeat, things are changing by the minute so while this is valid
information currently, it could look very different in a week. The
management team and I are striving to be as on top of and transparent as we can
in delivering info to you as it comes down the pipe.
Bear with me as this is a bit long and wordy…
- I know that COVID 19 and
shelter in place is having an enormous impact on the economy. What
effect is this having on Seneca and my job security?
Right now we are in the process of figuring this all
out. Ken, Lori and the team of executive directors have been working
tirelessly to advocate to counties that we be funded for our services during
this time. San Francisco and Alameda County are the only counties that we
work with that have so far committed to covering our costs. This is
extremely relieving and a testament to the work that you all are doing.
This is also allowing us to not have to make any changes to our current
staffing in San Francisco!
For right now, we do not know what changes we will
have to make agency-wide but are continuing to look at a myriad of ways of
mitigating the impact as much as possible. With that, we have frozen all
external hiring and will be filling open positions with staff across the agency
who’s jobs may be impacted or on hold.
- With everything being
remote, what does that mean for my caseload and billing expectations?
We are still figuring this out with your help!
One of the reasons why your supervisors have been checking in twice daily is to
help answer this question. We do not have a guidebook for hows, whats and
how much is needed in this new way of doing the work quite yet.
Additionally we know that this will look very different depending on the
client/family as well as the duration that we are sheltered-in-place. As
we try to build this out, your supervisors will be working collaboratively with
you to help determine whether your current workload is too much, too little or
just right for this different way of working. This may look like taking on more
cases or helping out in a different SF program. It is this kind of
flexibility and collaboration that will help us get through this together and
come out stronger so thank you in advance for being nimble and pushing
yourselves to adapt.
…..I think that’s it for now. Please reach out with
questions about any of this or anything else that is occupying your mind 😉.
As I said above, I am inspired by each of you everyday and
am so grateful to be part of a team that shows up in the ways that each of you
have been for the past two weeks. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
Amy