HILLSIDE BECOMES WEGMANS' PARTNER IN PROGRAM GROWTH

DAVID MERREFIELD

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Hillside Behavioral Health System here is the current administrator of the Wegmans-developed work-scholarship program, and it was a happy coincidence that resulted in the move of the program to Hillside.

Hillside is a non-profit (formed as an orphanage in 1837) that has grown over the years to offer a host of services to children in need. Most of its services are directed at bringing children into a residential situation after all else has failed. Hillside has become the largest provider of child welfare and mental-health services in the Northeast, providing services throughout much of western and central New York State through six non-profit programs.

However, as Dennis M. Richardson, Hillside president and chief executive officer, explained to SN in an interview here, the board of Hillside came to realize - some five years ago -- that in many instances, by the time children reached the point that taking up residence at Hillside became imperative, it was a bit too late and they were "over the falls."

"Hillside typically gets involved when there has been some traumatic incident in a child's life. Most of the services at Hillside are rehabilitative," Richardson observed. "The board of Hillside was discussing that we need to reach these children before they go over the falls. So Hillside made a commitment to develop prevention and early-intervention services. We also made the decision to look for a service that was already successful. We didn't need to create this. We needed to find a service we thought was already successful. and either replicate it or partner with that organization.

"It was quite coincidental that at the same time, apparently, Danny Wegman and his folks at Wegmans were saying 'We think we've reached the point that we aren't growing [the work-scholarship program] as we would like to. We're not getting as many partners in the community as we need to; perhaps this should be spun off to a not-for-profit, which has some advantages over a for-profit."'

Richardson said the obstacle Wegmans had encountered in rolling out the work-scholarship program was that the rest of the community looked at what Wegmans was doing and declared that Wegmans was doing just fine with the program, and that no involvement from anyone else was needed.

So, for the program to attract additional sponsors, it was necessary to shift it to a neutral administrator, and to take the Wegman's name off the program.

Richardson said that to the latter point, he was unsure how Danny Wegman would take the news that the Wegman's name needed to be retired, but all went well: "I thought the best thing to do is just tell him that. So I sat down with Danny and told him that everyone thinks Wegmans has deep pockets and so if we go out to the corporate community and ask them to pitch in, they will say 'let them do it themselves.'

"Secondly, there was no incentive for other corporations to further develop the Wegman's name, although they are fine with associating with Hillside, as a not-for-profit.

"Danny said 'that's a great idea,' and that was it. He didn't take any convincing. And, for me, that was the first indication of his commitment to this; that his commitment transcended any business initiative on his part. He wanted this to succeed and it wasn't about promoting the Wegmans name. It was about having these kids achieve success."

So, in 1996, Hillside took over the Wegmans Work-Scholarship program, rebranding it as the Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection, administered as the sixth not-for-profit corporation at Hillside.

How exactly does the program now run at Hillside? Annette L. Gantt, executive director, Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection, answered that question in an interview with SN here.

"We have 16 school-based youth advocates who carry a caseload of 30 youth each. There are also staff coordinators who supervise and manage the youth advocates and make sure all our customers are being served properly, and we consider our customers to be the student, the family, the employment partners and work-site mentors."

The full headcount for the program is 23, including three advocates in Syracuse. In addition to the advocates, there is a staff coordinator and program supervisors.

There are now some 550 youths participating in the Rochester and Syracuse programs, which brings the cost per youth to about $2,800 annually, based on average enrollment. "Some folks have said this is expensive at $2,800 a year per child," said Gantt. "But who can imagine the amount of taxes successful graduates will pay during their lifetimes as compared to the cost to society of placing kids outside the home, and maybe inside the juvenile system? That alone can cost taxpayers $75,000 or more per youth, on an annual basis.

"We're very cheap. This is all about investing in our young people today so we can all have a brighter future economically, as families and communities."