Safe Horizon
Restructuring a Front-Line Social Services Agency
As the nation's leading nonprofit victim assistance, advocacy, and violence prevention organization, New York City's Victims Services Agency, offers 24-hour toll-free hotlines and programs in community offices, shelters, courts, police precincts and schools that help more than 250,000 New Yorkers each year. Often operating in crisis mode, many on the 900 person staff felt the agency was spread too thin, while many clients disliked the agency's name.
In a comprehensive, wide-ranging strategic planning assignment, TCC Group worked with the agency, helping to refocus and build a solid, streamlined infrastructure capable of serving as the lead social service agency for crime victims across New York City. In the process, the agency's name was changed from , New York City's Victims Services Agency to Safe Horizon.
Putting the Agency on the Front Line in Times of Great Need
Through interviews with stakeholders, surveys of staff members and crime victims served by Safe Horizon including battered women, children and youth, elderly victims, families, sexual assault victims, and homeless youth, TCC Group was able to gather a wealth of information that served as the basis of a bold, redefining strategic plan.
The plan clarified the agency's mission, capitalized on managerial strengths, and guided the organization through a period of intense growth and profound cultural change, including new leadership and the name change. TCC Group helped map out a new infrastructure that allowed the agency to respond more quickly and comprehensively to clients' needs, often with emergency counseling and practical assistance, and develop an agency-wide plan for their continuum of care. The plan also enabled the agency to ramp up services in the event of a major catastrophe, such as the World Trade Center attacks.
New York's Lead Social Services Agency During 9/11 - and Beyond
Strategic implementation plans which the TCC Group helped develop enabled the agency to double in size and provide more focused programs. As essential management tools, the plans empower staff to measure progress through objectives, giving them a heightened sense of ownership and accountability. In addition, there is greater coordination and collaboration among staff and departments, and the agency is more unified with an improved professional image. Clients recognize and greatly appreciate the changes.
