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Placements Elm Street
educational & therapeutic consulting
ELMSTREETPLACEMENTS.COM
January/February 2020
The Best Job I’ve Ever Had
MEET OUR BUSINESS MANAGER, RAEGAN FREEMAN
I love my job!
Between my passion for helping students with difficulties and Lucy’s job opening, I like to believe it was fate that brought me here. I’ve been working at Elm Street Placements for two years, and it still feels like I have the greatest job in the world. As a former educator and administrator, I’m empowered by our many success stories. When I first talk to parents, I get a feeling of lost hope. They are unsure of what to do, and they are searching for any answer they can find. After six months, when those first reports from their children’s programs start coming in, we watch the transformation unfold. Parents are happier, their kids are doing well, and there is progress and growth every single day. It’s a powerful transformation that I one day hope to have a part of beyond what I do now. My personal goal is to join Lucy, Kathy, and Fran in the field, discovering programs, continuing engagement with the caring professionals in these organizations, and directly helping families through that transformation. I am simply amazed at the work these women do, and I’m honored to work with the programs we coordinate with every day.
I’m the first point of contact with Elm Street Placements. Families often share quite a bit with me during that first phone call. I know the most important thing I can do for them at that moment is to serve as a listening ear for frustrated or exhausted parents and caregivers. I immediately feel connected with the families who call for our help. Throughout their time with Elm Street Placements, I’m invested in their lives. When I first met Lucy, I was working at the preschool she previously operated. Eventually, I moved away from New Jersey, but when I returned, I had a set of twins and a younger child in tow. Working was the last thing on my mind. When I was ready to return to the workforce, I felt drawn to help children in need of extra assistance. There’s something fulfilling about helping a child sort through their frustrations or challenges. I had been keeping up with Lucy and learned she needed a part-time employee to help her with the day-to-day needs of her consulting practice, Elm Street Placements.
I’d love to show you and your patients just how impactful these dedicated professionals can be. Give me a call. I’d love to talk to you.
–Raegan Freeman
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908-228-2212
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Help Your Kids Achieve More This Year
With Simple and Actionable Goals
With every new year comes an opportunity to reinvent ourselves or start down a new path toward self-improvement. Making resolutions is a big part of many families’ New Year’s traditions, and parents often have a desire for their kids to take part in that tradition when they’re old enough. Following through on resolutions is tough, especially for young children, but with your help, they can achieve their goals.
good resolution might be for them to clean their room once a week or
take responsibility for one household chore every day. DON’T DO ALL THE WORK FOR THEM. While it’s important for you to help your kids formulate their
PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH.
You are your children’s role model for almost everything, including following through on New Year’s resolutions. So, ask yourself if you follow through on your own resolutions. When you proclaim that you will read more books or finally get a gym membership, do you actually try to do it? Your kids will assign as much importance to New Year’s resolutions as you do, so by sticking to your own commitments, you can help them stay on track too.
goals, be sure that you aren’t taking over. If they’re ultimately
responsible for their resolutions, they’ll feel more compelled to keep them. Instead, suggest different goal areas they could improve, such as home, school, or sports, and let them elaborate. When it comes to creating habits, nobody is perfect, so even if your kids falter on their goals in the middle of February, don’t worry. The important thing is that you continue to encourage them every step of the way.
KEEP THINGS SIMPLE AND ACHIEVABLE.
When your kids are forming their resolutions, their first attempts will probably be very broad. Statements like “I want to be more kind” or “I will try to help more around the house” incorporate good values but don’t include any actionable steps. Help your kids think of tangible ways to act on those goals. For example, if they want to be tidier, a
psychiatrists, clergy members, tutors, coaches, therapists, and any other adults who interact with the student. When it’s appropriate, we meet with the child. This is often done during an observation at school, over lunch, or in our office.
Our dedicated educational and therapeutic consultants have decades of knowledge and experience finding real solutions to help students and young adults thrive. We have the answers to your families’ lingering questions about treatment and care for their child, and it all starts with that first phone call. The first person a family talks to is our office manager, Raegan Freeman. She will explain our procedures, services, and pricing before assigning one of our consultants to the family. The consultant will read school reports, psychological evaluations, behavioral analyses, and other documents that can provide an idea of the client’s strengths and challenges. From there, the consultant will have a 15–30-minute phone call with the family. This is intended to gather a summary of concerns and introductory background information. Next, the family and the consultant will meet. The consultant will continue to gather information about the client and their family. WHAT YOUR FAMILIES CAN EXPECT WITH ELM STREET PLACEMENTS Working With Us
However, sometimes it is not appropriate for us to meet with them. We will work with the family and your team to make this determination. Typically we will meet with young adults as soon as the first office meeting. Not only does this instill agency in young adults, it also helps determine the best type of program so that each client can get their unique needs met. Next, using the information we have gathered from the family and the client’s team, we will use our expertise to identify appropriate therapeutic programming opportunities for the child or young adult. We generate a shortlist of programs we believe are best suited for the client. After a placement is made, we will continue to be available to the client, their families, and your team of experts for continued support and guidance. We’re proud to work with families and care partners to help children and young adults thrive. Collaborate with us today. Call 908-228-2212 or visit ElmStreetPlacements.com to learn more.
Following these initial meetings, the consultant will contact professionals in the client’s life. This involves interviewing teachers,
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Global Connections
Where in the World Are Lucy, Kathy, and Fran?
Whether they are jetting off across the globe or traveling just miles down the highway, our educational and therapeutic consultants are dedicated to engaging with developmental, educational, and mental health professionals. Here’s where that commitment took Lucy Pritzker, Kathy Nauta, and Fran Schlenoff this fall. LEADING PROFESSIONALS Lucy spent the first week of November at the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) Fall Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference is an opportunity for the Elm Street experts to continue their education and engage with fellow educational and therapeutic professionals. During the conference, the IECA board of directors held an annual meeting to provide strategic and programmatic leadership to the organization. Lucy serves on this distinguished board with other consulting professionals. COLLABORATING LOCALLY This fall, the team visited over 10 therapeutic and specialized schools in the region. By establishing relationships with this wide variety of schools, our team is better able to serve our clients with firsthand knowledge of the specific offerings available within each school or program. For schools that we already have experience with, these
visits allow us to stay well-informed on programming and curricular updates, so that we can ensure the right fit for each client.
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL VISITS There are no bounds when it comes to how far we will travel to engage with therapeutic programming. Fran and Lucy flew to Michigan this fall to tour four educational and therapeutic programs, including an arts-focused school, a mental health center, and two college prep schools. Fran also traveled to learn more about a program in Florida and joined Kathy in Salt Lake City, Utah, for further engagement. Kathy also toured seven schools in Vermont this fall. Kathy’s travels even took her overseas to Portugal! Kathy toured the Pacia Life Program, which is focused on cultural immersion for young adults. She also visited The Dorm, a young adult program, for its 10- year anniversary celebration. Collaboration is the cornerstone of our work at Elm Street Placements. If you would like to learn more about the programs we visit or would like to suggest a networking opportunity, please call 908-228-2212. Visit ElmStreetPlacements.com to learn more about our consultation work.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN SAUERKRAUT
SUDOKU
INGREDIENTS • 2 lbs cabbage • 4 tsp fine sea salt EQUIPMENT • Jar • Lid with airlock
• Something to weigh down cabbage, ideally made of a nonreactive material like glass
DIRECTIONS
1. Remove outer leaves from cabbage. Slice very thinly. 2. In a large bowl, combine cabbage and salt. Let stand for 20 minutes. 3. Squeeze cabbage to release juices. Let the cabbage continue to soak and release juices for another 20 minutes. 4. Transfer to a jar and press down cabbage until completely submerged in its juices. Weigh down cabbage. 5. Seal jar with airlock. Let cabbage sit at room temperature and away from sunlight for one month. Once fermented, transfer to the fridge. Sauerkraut will keep for six months to one year.
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908-228-2212
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PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
66 Elm Street, #13 Westfield, NJ 07090
908-228-2212 elmstreetplacements.com
I nside
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Compassionate and Helpful Advocate for Families Helping Your Kids Make New Year’s Resolutions Our Process to Collaborating for Success Continued Collaboration With Elm Street Placements How to Make Your Own Sauerkraut What Great Leaders Have in Common?
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The Secret to Being a Great Leader DELEGATE TO ELEVATE Poor delegation is the Achilles’ heel of most leaders, who often confuse being “involved” with being “essential.” To determine if you’re holding on to work you should delegate out, the Harvard Business Review (HBR) recommends asking this simple question: “If you had to take an unexpected week off work, would your initiatives and priorities advance in your absence?” If your answer is no or you aren’t sure, then you’re probably too involved. No one person should be the cog that keeps everything in motion, no matter their position in the company. Luckily, HBR has created an audit using the following six T’s to identify which tasks can be delegated. TINY: Small tasks that stack up can undermine the flow of your work. Registering for a conference, putting it on the calendar, and booking the flight are all small tasks someone else can handle. TEDIOUS: These tasks are straightforward but not the best use of your time. Someone else can input lists into spreadsheets or update key performance indicators for a presentation.
to someone else, and step in for the final 20% to give approval.
TEACHABLE: Is there a task only you know how to do? If so, teach someone else to do it, and step in for the last quality check when it’s done.
TERRIBLE AT: It’s okay to be bad at some things. Great leaders know when to pass tasks off to someone who is more skilled than they are. The task will get done faster and at a much higher quality. TIME-SENSITIVE: These tasks need to get done right now but are competing with tasks of a higher priority. Just because it has to get done immediately doesn’t mean you have to be the one to do it. Sure, some tasks only you can accomplish, but these are extremely rare. As the Virgin Group founder Richard Branson warns, needlessly resisting delegation is the path to disaster. “You need to learn to delegate so that you can focus on the big picture,” Branson says. “It’s vital to the success of your business that you learn to hand off those things that you aren’t able to do well.”
TIME-CONSUMING: These important, complex tasks don’t require you to do the first 80% of the work. Identify what they are, pass them
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