Celebrating You—CHS Staff!

On April 12, CHS celebrated winning the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Children’s Bureau Champion award for outstanding leadership and workforce transformation! U.S. Senator John Thune and Governor Kristi Noem spoke at the event, praising staff for serving a mission “greater than themselves.” Read more and see photos here.

The Easter Bunny vs. The Easter Squirrel

Early on Easter morning, SFCH Residential Youth Counselor Blake Bennett hid 206 plastic Easter eggs filled with treats for the boys at Van Down.

It began raining lightly, so Blake delayed the egg hunt until after lunch. Much to their surprise, when the boys went outside, only 17 eggs still contained candy!

All the eggs had been opened and emptied—with not a wrapper to be seen! There were toothmarks on some and some were chewed. Our investigative IT team was able to pull video footage and discovered that one very busy squirrel had stashed away the candy!

Blake joked that maybe the Easter Bunny’s cousins found and stole the candy. He then made a trip to the store to buy more, ensuring the kids had plenty of Easter treats.

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ASK THE CEO:

You Asked. We Answer.

Two new questions were submitted to Ask The CEO on the GOOD WORKS portal:

The Easter party in the CHS gym looked like so much fun!! I am wondering if there is anyway our group home children could join in future CHS celebrations? I am sure our 6 kids and staff would have loved to be a part of the party!

Thank you for the question about kids in Shelter for Family Safety joining the other kids for fun activities or parties such as we saw over Easter.

All kids need those fun times. Because confidentiality must be maintained, it’s not always possible to include children in shelter to participate. We will keep an eye out for including them when possible.

According to the CDC, the pandemic is officially over the beginning of May. Will the mask mandate for unvaccinated employees end?

This past week President Biden signed documents formally ending the COVID emergency. We are all thankful to have this pandemic behind us.

CHS (a recipient of Medicaid funding) has worked very closely with legal counsel to ensure its compliance with the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services so that associated funding (funding drives policy/process and procedure) would not be jeopardized.

CHS has been able to adapt as the pandemic has evolved and is anxiously awaiting further guidance from the government ensure compliance with CMS.

As the situation changes our intent is to continue to keep everyone informed as to next steps.

Thanks for the question!

–Michelle Lavallee, CEO

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A Thank You Note From Joe...

CFO Joe Herdina sent a heartfelt thank you to staff for his retirement party. Read more and see the party photos here.

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Quarterly Check-ins Due By Thursday

Last week for check-ins! Supervisors need to check in with their staff to review and discuss 2023 goals by
Thursday, April 20.