| Our Diversified Strength
Our Quality Systems
Our Staff and Board Member Commitment
Our Organization
Today, St. John’s Community Services,
a non-denominational, non-profit, 501(c)(3) human services
organization, supports over 500 children and adults
with intellectual, developmental and other disabilities
and their families in the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia. SJCS is governed (see Our Governance
for membership of all Boards) by a parent Board
of Trustees and a state Board of Directors appointed
in each jurisdiction. Our goal for all our services
is to build better communities by supporting people
with disabilities to be integrated into all aspects
of community life, living and participating
within the communities of their choosing.
Among non-profit human service agencies providing social services, education and health care, St. John’s Community Services is unique. SJCS is unique in many ways: our heritage, mission, diversified strength, corporate structure, as well as board and staff commitment. Whether you are a parent or advocate choosing one of our services for someone in your care, an agent of a local government attempting to expand services in your jurisdiction, a donor looking for a worthy cause to support, or a member of our community looking for a rewarding employment or volunteer opportunity—St. John’s Community Services is an agency that stands out and is worth your further exploration. We invite you to join the St. John’s Community Services family.
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Our Diversified Strength
Early on, SJCS learned that like any business (non-profit or for profit, human service or industrial) a business’ strength, financial and service quality, lay in diversification. To better understand the human development process and the need for the community to support people living with disabilities, SJCS creates service opportunities for very young children, school age children, and adults who can choose from among a variety of services, such as community living, supported employment and community participation. By offering such a range of service choices, SJCS adds greater value to the community and strengthens its financial position through the diversity of our funding.
SJCS furthered this diversification by creating eight separate corporations in five separate states and localities. The four in which services are provided are: Washington, D.C., Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. They are each a separate corporation that contracts with the Parent Corporation for administrative support services, e.g., human services, accounting, technology, evaluation and research, marketing, compliance and quality assurance. This arrangement keeps administrative support specialized and the overhead costs low. Two charitable fundraising and fund management corporations, the SJCS Foundation and the SJCS Founders Board, support the efforts of the direct service corporations and work towards preserving the SJCS heritage.
All combined, our service, state and corporate designs make St. John’s Community Services not only a historical charity, but a respected business-minded agency ready to meet the financial and service needs of the future.
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Our Quality Systems
St. John’s Community Services has carefully crafted its own internal monitoring and communication systems with the growth of the corporate structure. We have developed and continue to refine our own corporate compliance and risk analysis processes. By monitoring our internal business practices, we make sure that waste, fraud and abuse of any kind is avoided and when if ever detected, it is immediately reported and corrected internally. Additionally, SJCS has its own internal monitoring process for service quality assurance to meet and exceed state licensure standards, and to assure that SJCS meets its own mission-related standards: choice, inclusion within the community, cultural adaptation and other considerations that foster success within the community.
SJCS-Virginia is fully accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) for all current services. SJCS is seeking national accreditation for all of its direct service choices. The other remaining four jurisdictions in which SJCS provides services are in the process of seeking either CARF or The Council on Quality and Leadership certification. This goal should be achieved within the next few years. Additionally, our ability to meet our own rigorous standards is facilitated by our comprehensive technology and information systems available throughout the separate corporations and global corporate family. Service information and business data move confidentially yet rapidly to foster the best decisions related to service quality and financial strength.
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Our Staff and Board Member Commitment
When all is said and done, any human service agency is about people. It is about the people receiving services, and it is about the people providing or supporting those with a disability. At SJCS, since 1868, we have selected members to join our family, governing boards and staff that believe in our mission and work tirelessly to achieve it.
Currently, there are eight corporate volunteer boards providing oversight and governance to these separate but coordinated entities. In total, SJCS has well over 100 volunteer board members. Some of the board members are the descendants of the original founding group of the 1800s. Many have served this historic charity for 20 years or more. They are accountants, attorneys, investors, fundraisers, insurance brokers, home makers, non-profit and for profit business leaders. They represent every ability, occupation, age, culture and race. They are among a parade of volunteers that have shepherded this charity for nearly 140 years.
Our staff is now over 600 strong. Young and not so young, our heritage comes from over 40 different countries. While most other agencies in the human service business boast that some staff stay for three years, SJCS’s average staff retention is over four years. Over 50 staff have served over 10 years and our core leadership has a tenure of over 20 years. Many of the senior staff began their service together at SJCS in the 1980’s. Our current President/CEO, Tom Wilds, has served St. John’s Community Services for 27 years. Our Chief Operating Officer has served 24 years. Others with similar tenure are too numerous to list here. Together, our board and staff members are a cohesive unit constantly working toward our mission to advance community support and opportunities for people living with disabilities.
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