Hillside Family of Agencies to add 100+ jobs, $5.1 million to upstate economy

 

Nonprofit to open new services in region by summer's end

 

Hillside Family of Agencies has announced that it will offer new services, add 123 positions, and infuse $5.1 million in total compensation to the region's economy by the end of this summer. The expansion is part of an effort by the nonprofit organization to better serve the critical needs of the area's youth and families.

 

According to Clyde Comstock, Hillside Family of Agencies Chief Operating Officer, "this service expansion brings in funding from national and local foundations, and returns state dollars to our area, all building on regional support for services that improve our community and provide critical jobs that support the improvement of our economy."

 

Over $1 million of the salary impact will come from the 32 employees Hillside is currently in the process of hiring for its new Intensive Support Unit (ISU) on the Hillside Children's Center (HCC) Monroe Avenue Campus in Rochester. These employees will work with youth diagnosed with developmental disabilities and serious emotional needs. They will help the youth become more respectful to themselves and others through skill building and therapeutic plan implementation.

 

"The employees working in the ISU will be a part of a very intense clinical team that will have experience with youth that have both developmental disabilities and mental health issues," said Hillside Children's Center Associate Service Leader Dan Lesinski.

 

Lesinski points out that because the youth in the ISU will be able attend Hillside's residential campus school, also on the Monroe Avenue campus, ISU employees can work across all disciplines "to do more accurate assessments, more effective treatment planning, and better skill building so that these young folks can move to a more permanent and respectful place in the community like an IRA or therapeutic foster care home."

 

Hillside will also be opening Independent Residential Alternatives (IRA), more commonly known as group homes, in the towns of Webster and Macedon, Wayne County. Each will add 16 new jobs and over $613,000 in compensation to the local economies.

 

"Opening an IRA provides a home and safe learning environment for these youth to participate in the community," said Lesinski.

 

Other Hillside services throughout Western and Central New York that are impacted by the organization's growth and hiring initiative include four positions at Hillside Family of Agencies; 13 at Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection; 28 in Hillside's education services; and 14 in the GROW (Gaining Resiliency through Overall Wellness) residential program at HCC's Finger Lakes Campus in Auburn, Cayuga County. The financial impact of these positions on the local economies being served is $2.4 million.

 

"The growth at Hillside represents opportunity, in that there are more jobs available for our neighbors and friends and opportunity for more children and families to be served. Hillside is a very stable and growing organization where our staff members not only have jobs but a career," said Hillside Family of Agencies Chief Organizational Development and Human Resources Officer Frank Kaiser.

 

To view and/or apply for any of the open positions, visit http://www.hillside.com/Join/employment.htm.

 

About Hillside Family of Agencies
Hillside Family of Agencies is a family and children services organization that provides child welfare, mental health, youth development, juvenile justice, special education, and developmental disabilities services across central and western New York. Hillside Family of Agencies is also comprised of affiliates Crestwood Children's Center, Crestwood Children's Foundation, Hillside Children's Center, Hillside Children's Foundation, Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection, and Snell Farm Children's Center.