Strength fromWithin - Abraxas Youth & Family Services

Abraxas Youth & Family Services
In a time when many companies are scaling back, this youth
rehabilitation company is working to improve internal processes
and employee satisfaction.
Strength from Within
This recession is forcing companies in every industry
to make tough choices and find creative ways to
maintain stability in the form of unpaid vacation,
pay cuts, and hiring freezes. Abraxas Youth & Family Services,
based in Pittsburgh, is taking a different route. According
to Senior VP Jon Swatsburg, Abraxas is adapting services to
cater to the specific needs of customers and is also placing a
strong emphasis on recruitment and retention. Abraxas
believes that additional effort in these two areas will enable
the organization to continue providing quality treatment services
and exceed customer expectations while creating a favorable
work environment.
Abraxas is a leading provider of treatment programs for hardto-place
juvenile populations including fire starters, sex offenders,
habitual offenders, and drug sellers, as well as specialized
programs for young women. The company opened its doors
in September 1973 in Marienville, Pa. with just 30 clients.
Today, Abraxas operates 19 residential facilities and 20 community
based programs in six states including Colorado,
Delaware, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas and contracts
with various county and state agencies throughout the
country.
Strong employee base
Recruitment and retention will be a major priority for senior
management throughout 2009. A retention initiative began
last summer with the institution of a work climate survey to
gauge employee satisfaction. According to Swatsburg, the
survey resulted in a huge amount of data the company can
evaluate in a variety of ways. Abraxas has the ability to compare
survey results by facility and staff class. Data can be further
analyzed by tenure and other key demographics. For
example, new employee results were compared to staff with
five years of experience, which revealed longer tenured
employees had a greater level of satisfaction.
“We’ve been able to zero in on specific issues at each facility
in a way that no other company in this industry can, as far as
I know,” Swatsburg said. “The next step was developing
action plans to address those issues. When we conduct the
next survey this summer, we’ll see how we did.”
Initiatives currently underway across the division to address
retention issues include preparing division and facility specific
recruiting and retention plans, conducting focus groups with
employees, improving internal communication processes, and
providing additional training for supervisors.
Although Abraxas is not immune to the high turnover rate of
the industry, Swatsburg believes that the average, sometimes
as high as 50%, is unacceptable and that by
taking these steps Abraxas will set itself
apart from other employers. Abraxas feels it
is in a good position due to the fact that it
is continuing to offer merit increases, maintain
reasonable health benefit premiums,
and not take drastic measures to reduce
costs. Especially in an unstable economy,
these are major factors employees take into
consideration.
In addition to the concentration on retention,
Abraxas has also restructured its
recruiting process. The company now uses
an online tool, which advertises positions
both internally and externally. In addition,
Abraxas employs five human resources
Jon Swatsburg, Senior
Vice President
www.abraxasyfs.com
HQ Pittsburgh, Pa.
Employees 2,000
Services Behavioral modification,
behavioral health, substance
abuse, fire setter and sexual
offender programs, shelter and
detention programs, alternative
education
Inside Healthcare May 2009

Youth Rehabilitation
representatives dedicated to recruiting qualified employees to
join the Abraxas team.
Abraxas offers its employees competitive salaries and benefit
packages, which include medical and prescription, dental,
vision, flexible spending accounts, an employee stock purchase
program, a tuition assistance program, and three weeks
paid time off, to name a few. Abraxas provides employees the
opportunity to further their education through various trainings
as well as partnerships with colleges and universities.
health solutions spotlight
Strong customer relationships
In addition to its focus on internal customers, Abraxas strives
to build strong relationships with its referral sources. In a competitive
market, Abraxas realizes the need to set itself apart
from the competition and has shifted its focus to concentrate
on identifying and adjusting processes to make its customers’
lives easier.
This has been an on-going, multi-year effort in which Abraxas
reached out to its customers to determine what could be
done to make it easier to do business with the company.
Based on the information received, Abraxas deployed
resources to address the issues most frequently mentioned
and also tried to offer significant customer benefits. Currently,
three full-time employees are enrolled in a Six Sigma black
belt course, which will provide them the knowledge to streamline
and improve processes.
One of the projects currently in the pipeline is to improve the
delivery and formatting of court reports across the division.
For starters, Abraxas has developed a system to monitor ontime
delivery of court reports.
“We need to make sure we are getting the information to our
referral customers in a timely manner. In the last few months,
we’ve seen significant improvements, and customers have
noticed,” said Swatsburg. “In regard to the formatting of
court reports, with a standardized form, a customer will know
exactly what information is included and where to find it.”
Another key initiative is to provide outcomes information
that can be tailored based on customer requirements. For
example, Abraxas collects client satisfaction, discharge, and
follow up data to demonstrate effectiveness of its treatment
programs.
Abraxas is also strengthening its vocational and restitution
programs. These programs provide juvenile clients the opportunity
to work at various jobs to earn money toward payment
of court fees or fines. The vocational and restitution options
vary by location, however the main goal is to teach clients a
skill or trade that will benefit them in the future.
Last year, the Abraxas Leadership Development Program,
located in South Mountain, Pa., built a greenhouse where
residents learned about horticulture and grew their own gardens.
Clients earned money by selling flower arrangements
and wreaths around the holidays.
Abraxas realizes the importance of ensuring that its employees,
customers, and referral sources are satisfied. It is Swatsburg’s
hope that these efforts will pay off when the economy
turns around. Bringing in the best in the industry, doing
what it takes to keep staff happy and engaged in their work,
and maintaining close partnerships with customers will position
Abraxas to become the premier employer and treatment
provider in the industry. +
—Meghan Flynn
Jon Swatsburg, MSW
Abraxas Youth & Family Services
Senior Vice President
2840 Liberty Avenue, Suite 300, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412-201-4111 • jswatsburg@abraxasyfs.com • www.abraxasyfs.com
May 2009
www.inside-healthcare.com