Starfish Family Services, Inc.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Early Childhood Education
Starfish provides quality preschool programs, utilizing evidence-based curricula to prepare children for kindergarten. We’re committed to providing the best education possible for our youngest children, and one that supports the whole child and the whole family. Whole child includes mental, physical, social, and emotional development.
Parenting Programs
At Starfish, family means everything. Because the success of a happy and healthy child depends on the health and strength of the whole family. We’re here to help build a community of support. We offer parenting workshops, leadership coaching, advocacy-skills training, and peer-to-peer support groups. If we don’t offer a service, we help connect families with trusted resources for education, job training, counseling, or life-needs such as food or housing. Parents and care-givers are encouraged to be involved every step of the way, to set their family’s goals, and to forge their family’s own unique path. Starfish parents are active in our classrooms, and are decision makers throughout our agency, serving as board members, as well as on policy councils and internal work groups and committees.
Behavioral Health Services
Well-being for the whole family. We invest in the health and wellness of children, youth, and families through programs that have a comprehensive and holistic approach. Starfish is a leading provider of Infant Mental Health services in southeast Michigan, providing a wide range of home-based services for pregnant women, infants, toddlers and their families.
Where we work
Awards
Top Work Places 2010
Detroit Free Press
Best-Managed Nonprofits Finalist - Family Service Alliance for Southeastern Michigan 2010
Crain's Detroit Business
Best-Managed Nonprofit 2018
Crain's Detroit Business
Notable Nonprofit Board Members---W. Howard Morris, Starfish board president 2021
Crain's Detroit Business
Affiliations & memberships
Association of Fundraising Professionals - Member 2008
Photos
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?
Our agency goal is to achieve positive school readiness outcomes for low-income young children
ages 0 to 5, their families and early care/education providers. This includes ensuring children meet key
developmental milestones (physical well-being, motor-skill development and social/emotional development),
and have age-appropriate competencies in areas like problem solving, language and literacy. For families,
our aim is to foster healthy parent-child relationships and successful families, including ensuring basic needs
are met and that families are creating pathways to economic self-sufficiency. For early care and education
providers, our goal is that both professional preschool teachers and caregivers (family, friends, and
neighbors) are equipped with education, tools, and skills to provide high-quality early learning environments
for children.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
In 2011, Starfish Family Services embarked on a transformational and long-term strategy to drive measurable community level change in young children’s outcomes in our home base of Inkster, Michigan. Based on a community needs assessment (conducted for Starfish by Data Driven Detroit) revealing that nowhere outside the City of Detroit are children in Wayne County at greater risk for school failure, Starfish is committed to this comprehensive agency and community plan that pursues a shared vision that All Inkster Children Start School Ready to Succeed.
The plan puts Inkster children ages 0 to 5 at the center of our strategy to improve school readiness outcomes by delivering high-quality early childhood care, education, and family support services. It also contains a strong community social change component aimed to engage a broad group of community takeholders around a common agenda of school readiness, build on community assets, forge partnership
through collaboration, and support families and children in order to drive durable, lasting change in Inkster.
To deliver our mission and vision of school readiness for young children, Starfish's strategy is to provide:
- Outstanding program delivery for children, families, and early care/education providers.
- Learning and outcomes measurement culture, including using results for ongoing program improvement.
- Community engagement/collaboration to establish and nurture community connections to maximize
support for young children, their families and caregivers.
- Resource Development to implement and sustain our mission and vision.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Starfish has a dedicated workforce of 300 teachers, social workers, psychiatrists, child development experts and
other professionals. Over 1,000 committed volunteers donate 10,000+ hours of service to Starfish annually.
Our programs and services meet the Council on Accreditation's (COA) rigorous standards for high-quality
social services agencies, and Starfish is ranked as one of Michigan's top mid-size businesses to work for by
the Detroit Free Press.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Across all of Starfish's service areas (both geographically and programmatically), we see incredible positive outcomes for the 10,000 children and families we serve annually, including:
- 88% of all Starfish’s Head Start children who were on their way to kindergarten in the fall of 2012 were ready for school.
- 75% of families who completed two years in our Family Success Program reported activity at self-sufficient levels in life domains ranging from parenting and social supports to housing, utilities, finances and education.
- Of the 280 parents who attended our parent education workshops, 98% changed their parenting behaviors and practices to be more nurturing.
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
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- 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.
Starfish Family Services, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 12/03/2021
Jonathan Citrin
President, Citrin Group, LLC
Term: 2009 -
Ron Sollish
Maddin Hauser Wartell Roth & Helter PC
Jonathan Citrin
President, Citrin Group, LLC
Ron Sollish
Attorney, Maddin Hauser Wartell Roth & Helter PC
Dennis J. Pheney
Partner, McElroy & Pheney
Boyd Pethel
Senior Vice President, PNC Bank
Rebecca Boylan
Community Volunteer
Phillip Wm. Fisher
Philanthropist, Mission Throttle
Daniel A. Frattarelli
Vice-Chief, Department of Pediatrics, Oakwood Hospital
Hilliard L. Hampton
Mayor, City of Inkster
Errol Hau
Freedom One Financial Group
Jerry A. Johnson
Sr. Associate Medical Director, Blue Cross Blue Shiled of Michigan
Elaine Koons
Community Volunteer
Janet Lawson
Director, Ford Volunteer Corps
William S. Mitchell
Community Volunteer
Julie E. Roberston
Attorney, Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn, LLP
Stephen F. Secrest
Community Volunteer
Larry R. Schulman
Attorney, Bodman PLC
Sabrina Smith-Campbell
Adjunct Faculty, Wayne State University
AJ Wagner
President/CEO AJ Wagner & Associates
April Foster
Community Volunteer