Contact: Lindsey Birkel
Title: Public Relations Coordinator
Phone: (309) 687-7423

July 18, 2003

REQUEST FOR COVERAGE

QUALITY FEST 2003 TAKES CENTER STAGE AT CHILDREN'S HOME

Peoria, IL-Measuring new employee satisfaction, creating program awareness in the community, and designing a better system to report the progress of clients are just a few of the projects that will be showcased at the 3rd annual Quality Fest. Quality Fest 2003 is scheduled for Tuesday, August 12, 2003 from 12-2 p.m. at the Riverside Community Church in Peoria. Children's Home Quality Improvement Department is sponsoring the event.

For an entire fiscal year, teams of employees join minds and hearts to make Children's Home a better place for employees and clients by designing projects that will have a positive impact on the agency. After a year of hard work, the projects are displayed at Quality Fest where they will be judged by area professionals. Awards will be given to the top three projects and a special Synergy Award will be given to the team that worked the best together. Judges for this year's event include Dr. Diane Zosky, Director of the Illinois State University Social Work Undergraduate Program; Marg Berglind, Director of the Child Care Association of Illinois; Sue Kingery, Children's Home Board Member; and Dr. Sam Black, former manager of Quality and Human Resources at Caterpillar.

Continuous Quality Improvement is a management model of shared decision-making that recognizes and uses the expertise of staff to continually assess and improve the quality of services. This model helps to promote staff empowerment, creativity, and responsibility. This past fiscal year, there were 31 CQI teams of 8 to 15 people each.

This is your chance to see the wheels of creativity and dedication in motion. We request your coverage of this event to help us celebrate the accomplishments of our staff. If you plan on covering this event or would like more information, please contact Lindsey Birkel at (309)687-7423.