Jewish Family Service of Metrowest
At every age, at every stage, we are here to help.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The mental health of our communities is paramount. Many seniors are experiencing isolation and have lost their sense of purpose. Women affected by domestic violence are paralyzed by fear and trauma. Survivors of the Holocaust continue to shoulder the burden of their memories. Many teenagers are at sea, searching for their identity amid confusing and unrealistic social pressures. Many parents are struggling to cope with the stress of simply being a parent. The pandemic has deepened people’s anxieties. It also has underscored how our health as individuals interlocks with the health of our communities.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Holocaust Survivor Services
JFS is here to help Holocaust survivors and their families, through a Person-Centered Trauma-Informed Care model (PCTI), to maintain and enhance their dignity and independence as they age. PCTI care is a holistic approach to service provision that promotes the dignity, strength, and empowerment of all individuals, while acknowledging that survivors of trauma have distinct and extraordinary needs.
Currently, we work with over 200 Holocaust survivors providing information and referrals, advocacy, assistance with reparations, case management, subsidized homecare, and financial assistance
Café Europa, the MetroWest Holocaust Survivor Friendship Society, provides Holocaust Survivors with opportunities for socialization through a non-threatening environment. Modeled after similar programs that exist nationally, Café Europa provides opportunities for JFS to identify individuals whose needs would otherwise go unnoticed and who may be eligible for other services.
Case Management
JFS case management services are the "glue” that pulls together all the loose ends of a particular issue, bringing the facts into an integrated care plan, marshaling all appropriate agency and other resources available. Seen as part of the Agency’s mission to provide support that guides clients toward the greatest degree of independence and self-sufficiency, social workers are available to provide:
• Information and referral
• Assessment and consultation of a family situation (e.g. finding a residential facility
for aging parents, dealing with young adults with disabilities or mental illness)
• Development of a care plan with other community providers
• Coordinating care with other professionals, including attorneys, physicians, etc.
• Facilitating financial assessment screenings, which include providing assistance with budgeting and support to access eligible government entitlements
• Advocacy – to support client needs, with government entities, insurance companies, landlords, creditors, etc.
Community Programming
JFS provides valuable expertise, connection, education, and assistance to schools, community centers, houses of worship, townships, and mental health professionals.
Individualized workshops and/or a workshop series (3-5 workshops) are short educational programs designed to teach or introduce skills, techniques, or topics. Our licensed clinicians provide information to teens, parents, professionals, and community members on topics related to mental health, social emotional development, educational curriculums, parenting and aging issues, as well as domestic violence, dating safety and awareness. These workshops are interactive, supportive, educational and can be in response to community request or need or as a preventive measure.
JFS is committed to the ongoing professional development of mental health providers, not only in our agency, but for the entire community. We host CEU based educational seminars for the mental health field on an annual basis.
Counseling
Get Help For Yourself Or Your Loved Ones.
You don’t have to face life’s challenges alone. JFS’ individual and family counseling services help children, teens, adults, couples, older adults and, families develop strategies to cope with their mental health or illness.
Our counseling department consists of caring, licensed, professional therapists trained in current and evidence-based treatment approaches. Services are customized with consideration of the unique needs, circumstances, and goals of each and every client. We will match you with a therapist who specializes in your area of need.
Rachel Coalition
The Rachel Coalition, the domestic violence victim support and prevention program, provides mental health counseling for the victim and their children, forums for community education, sensitization and training, marketing and communications, pro-bono legal services, and financial assistance.
JFS, as the direct service provider of The Rachel Coalition, offers the following:
• Information and Referral Services
• 24-hour emergency response (Just ask for "Rachel”).
• Medical, police, and clergy liaison.
• Emergency Kosher Safe House, under the supervision of the Va’ad of MetroWest.
• Counseling Services (providing specialized counseling for both victims of domestic violence and children and adolescents who are impacted by domestic violence).
• Community Education programming (ranging from large forums to small group workshops)
• Transitional Planning and Post Safe House housing assistance.
• Financial relief.
• Legal consultation and assistance in court proceedings.
• Volunteer Court Advocate Services
In 2010, Rachel Coalition joined with several other Essex County domestic violence providers to establish the Essex County Family Justice Center, the first of its kind in New Jersey. The Family Justice Center provides comprehensive services for victims (crisis intervention, counseling, legal services, immigration services, welfare and vocational support services) in one centralized location. Currently, the Family Justice Center is located on-site at the Essex County Family Court. Rachel Coalition is providing social work, case management and legal support services on site at the Family Justice Center.
Older Adults & Caregivers
JFS offers a variety of services to assist older adults and caregivers in embracing the aging process.
These services include:
• Care Consultation
• Comprehensive On-Site Assessment, with detailed Care Plan.
• Care Management – to coordinate, implement and monitor the Care Plan.
• Counseling – for the older adult and/or adult child.
• Support Group offerings
• Community Education.
• Volunteer Services
Family Therapy
It is not unusual for the family unit to experience stresses as a result of the family lifecycle issues: death, divorce, illness, unemployment, birth, remarriage, etc. Consequently, family therapy may be indicated to help family members find the necessary adaptations and coping skills. While one member of the family may be symptomatic or expressing the pain on behalf of other family members, meeting as a unit allows for greater healing, de-mystification of family problems and improved communication. Family therapy is usually time-limited and issue specific, thereby allowing everyone to track movement and progress.
Volunteer Opportunities
JFS MetroWest offers a wide array of meaningful volunteer opportunities. Our volunteer staff will match your interests and talents to community needs to ensure a gratifying experience.
We have opportunities for adult volunteer opportunities, Rachel Coalition volunteer possibilities, mitzvah projects, and the RSVP Center of Essex & Hudson Counties, which is a comprehensive community service organization catering to individuals 55 and over.
There are many benefits to volunteering with JFS of MetroWest. Volunteers make new friends, learn new skills, and bring joy to many of our JFS clients. JFS also offers special recognition events as a thank you for serving.
Support Groups
JFS conducts support groups in the community at all of the agency’s locations, as well as in local synagogues and/or sister agency settings. People often feel supported within a group, discussing issues of common concern, rather than meeting with a clinician individually. Support groups tend to be time-limited, with a closed enrollment. Typical support groups offered include:
• Bereavement
• Parenting
• Caregivers
• Social skills
• Separation/Divorce/Remarriage
• Managing Chronic Illness
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of phone calls/inquiries
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
MISSION
Guided by the wisdom and values of our tradition of respect for all people, Jewish Family Service of MetroWest New Jersey provides innovative, compassionate, and outstanding social services to enhance the independence and well-being of individuals and families throughout all stages of life.
VISION
Jewish Family Service of MetroWest aims to be the premier agency within the MetroWest New Jersey area providing for the social services and mental health needs of the greater community with unparalleled professionalism, humanity, and respect for all who seek its support.
CORE ORGANIZATIONAL VALUES
The cornerstones of JFS’s belief system are:
Inclusive Service to our extended community – one individual, one family at a time
Compassion Guidance through kindness, practical tools and support
Community A bedrock commitment to multigenerational engagement and relationships
Purpose Intentional accountability that garners trust and respect, and ensures sustainability
Collaboration Working with and involving others to reach common goals
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
PROGRAMS & SERVICES
JFS will center its work on the provision of mental health direct services and community programming. This is responsive to the needs of today’s communities and leverages the agency’s exceptional expertise by keeping counseling at the forefront. Boosting awareness and providing education through community programming will help ensure that no one will suffer in silence.
HUMAN RESOURCES
JFS will build staff strength and capacity. Central to success will be reimagining how staff envision their roles in implementing the agency’s future directions. Staff will enhance its partnership with the Board, setting key performance indicators and propelling strategic outcomes. Establishing refined HR systems and processes will support staff and facilitate their professional development.
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT & PLANNING
JFS will embrace taking a long-term view of the agency’s fiscal health. Multi-year planning will be guided by targets for debt, cash, and investment. Analysis of the economic viability of programs will help inform decision making around impact and sustainability. With greater understanding of the complexities and implications of the agency’s sources and uses of funds, the weight of financial oversight will be shared by the full Board. JFS will explore alternative scenarios to generate revenue to augment contributed income.
BOARD GOVERNANCE
JFS will channel Board member passion and energies toward contemporary Board roles. Redefining the Board’s partnership with staff will facilitate more focused leadership. A collaboration between the Executive Committee and an expanded Governance Committee will advance the Board’s overall functioning and the active engagement of individual trustees. Orientation/onboarding and ongoing training are priorities as is preparing the next generation of volunteer champions of the agency.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
JFS will promote its focus on mental health direct services and community programming to sharpen its identity, brand and reputation in communities. Refined messaging and storytelling will emphasize the agency’s high-impact outcomes and strive to reduce the public stigma of “mental health.” Outreach through traditional, less traditional, and nonsectarian networks will reach more people – both users of services and new supporters – across the generations.
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
It is a necessity for JFS to grow and diversify its funding base. It will deepen relationships with its steadfast donors while attracting new major gifts/grants/ sponsorships that will provide much needed recurring gift income outside government funding. Donor relations and communications will clarify the impact of giving and the outcomes of JFS’s services. The Board will be called upon to make JFS a higher philanthropic priority while reaching out to others and vocalizing its support of the agency.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
For over 150 years, JFS has provided the MetroWest community with mental health and social services. From its establishment in the mid-nineteenth century as an orphanage to the present day, JFS MetroWest has stayed true to its mission to help those in need.
JFS started as the Hebrew Benevolent Orphan Society and served as our community’s first organized response to widows and orphans, the poor, and the needy of Greater Newark. The society evolved into the Jewish Counseling and Service Agency, and is today called the Jewish Family Service of MetroWest New Jersey. We have resettled Holocaust survivors, supported the poor, assisted with adoptions, helped older adults to remain independent in their own homes, educated the community about domestic abuse, administered the Hebrew Free Loan fund, counseled adults, families, children and teens, supported local synagogues and sister Jewish communal agencies, and so much more.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
As JFS continues to navigate the ever-changing external forces that affect its mission and work, the strategic plan will be used as a dynamic and important tool. Strategic implementation of the plan will focus and re-focus energies when needed to shift direction or to capitalize on newfound opportunities. An annual review of the plan will facilitate a comprehensive reflection and assessment, including refreshed priority setting. When the third year of the plan nears, the Board and Senior Staff will reconvene to discern if it’s best to refine the existing plan or embark upon a new planning process.
BOARD ENGAGEMENT
To embrace its fiduciary role more fully, the Board is directing its energies toward ongoing strategic thinking and oversight. At a macro level, the Board will monitor JFS’s progress toward intended outcomes. Much of the monitoring work of the strategic plan will occur routinely through staff reports. Also, the strategic objectives will inform the nature and scope of Committee and full-Board meetings. Moreover, it is particularly important that Board members serve as active ambassadors and advocates, leveraging their networks to raise JFS’s profile and to generate additional resources.
QUARTERLY STAFF REPORTING
The aim is to advance JFS’s mission significantly by the end of the strategic plan’s three-year time period. Accordingly, every objective is intended to be measurable. Progress will be tracked through the analysis and presentation of Key Performance Indicators. To support the Board’s monitoring role, staff will report progress against targets to the Board on a quarterly basis.
MULTI-YEAR FINANCIAL PLANNING
A crucial factor in achieving some objectives in the strategic plan is having the financial and/or human resources in place for planning as well as execution. To that end, JFS has and will continue to consider how to allocate existing and newfound resources in the most strategic way. Staff and Board members will work in partnership to develop Board-approved and forecasted budgets as well as long-term planning designed to strengthen the agency’s fiscal health.
COMMUNICATING THE PLAN
JFS’s strategic thinking will be shared with key stakeholders to invite their engagement in advancing the plan. Elements of the strategic plan will inform the agency’s outreach messaging, sharing highlights of intentions and updates on notable progress. General communications will likely focus on what has been accomplished or newly launched while potential supporters also will learn about and be invited to support JFS’s vision and longer-term aspirations.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Jewish Family Service of Metrowest
Board of directorsas of 02/15/2024
Andrea Bier
No affiliation
Steven Glass
Melanie Levitan
Michael Elchoness
Andrea Bier
Fred Cohen
Linda Jacobs
Rachel Wilf
Marion Medow
Jeffrey Shapiro
Pamela Davis
Eta Levenson
Nancy Eskow
Carol Marcus
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 02/15/2024GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.