About Us Mission Statement The Mission of Maui Family Support Services, Inc. is to promote healthy family functioning by providing supportive services which build on family strengths. MFSS Named One of the Best Places to Work in Hawaii MFSS is proud to receive an Award from Hawaii Business Magazine as a winner of one of the business selected in the 2008 Hawaii’s Best Places to Work Award in the Medium Sized Companies Category! Out of over 185 Hawaii companies that signed up to participate, Maui Family Support Services was one of the 69 companies that made Hawaii Business Magazine’s 2008 “Best Places to Work.” The Best Places to Work in Hawaii program was free and open to all organizations. Participating companies must have at least 25 employees working in Hawaii. Employees were asked to answer 66 confidential survey questions, which was used to evaluate the employee’s workplace experience and company culture. The questions focus areas are: leadership and planning, culture and communication, role satisfaction, work environment, relationship with supervisor, training and development, pay and benefits, and overall satisfaction. MFSS also received a Certificate of Merit from Mayor Mufi Hannemann of Honolulu in recognition of one of the Hawaii’s Best Places to Work. (L-R) Kelli Abe Trifonovitch, Editor Hawaii Business magazine Ben Godsey, President, ProService Hawaii Peter Burke, President, Best Companies Group Jani Sheppard, CEO, Maui Family Support Services David Tumilowicz, Publisher, Hawaii Business magazine Photo by Rae Huo Maui Family Support Services (MFSS) is a private, non-profit agency, incorporated in 1980 which recently celebrated 27 years of continuous service in Maui County. The Agency's mission is to promote healthy family functioning by providing supportive services that build on family strengths. The mission is coupled with the prime directive of utilizing our collective resources toward the prevention of child abuse and neglect. Our successful history, with a prevention framework, specialized focus on early childhood intervention and long term commitment to the Maui community, strengthens our ability to provide and sustain the services needed to assist the Maternal and Child Health Branch (MCHB) to achieve its goals and objectives for the Healthy Start Program in Maui County. In Hawaii, the incidence of confirmed child maltreatment increased by 34% from 2000-2003. The major precipitating factors of child maltreatment include an inability to cope with parenting problems and life stressors such as inadequacies in income and housing, substance use, mental health issues, especially maternal depression, and Intimate Partner Abuse (IPA). These are all areas of intervention in which MFSS has demonstrated competency. MFSS has the skills and experience with its major programs, Healthy Start-Early Identification (EID), Home Visiting (HV), Lanai Perinatal Services (LPS), Family Focus Plus (FFP), and Early Head Start (EHS) to provide a comprehensive, seamless and coordinated system of care and support services. The focus is prevention and early intervention within the context of the family's natural environment with the goal of improving the present and future lives of at-risk families. As an experienced provider of family services in Maui County we are uniquely positioned to serve the specialized needs of families in Maui County. Board of Directors Michael E. Kim, M.D., President Grant Howe, Vice President James Geiger, Esq., Secretary Steve Clark, M.D., Treasurer Layne Campos Mary B. Johnston, Esq. Debi Rolfing Honorary Members Edy Salenger, R.N. Senator Mamoru Yamasaki (Deceased) Liaison Members April Apana Shirley Chun-Ming Judy Makami - Molokai Chief Executive Officer L. Jani Sheppard   (MFSS Board of Directors, 1998) Support Major Donors Major donations in support of Maui Family Support Services, Inc. come from the following individuals, corporations, and foundations: Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation State of Hawaii United States Government - HUD County of Maui Harold K.L. Castle Foundation Strong Foundation Samuel N. & Mary Castle Foundation Atherton Family Foundation McInerny Foundation Fred Baldwin Memorial Foundation Graham Family Foundation Kosasa Foundation Alexander & Baldwin Foundation Bank of Hawaii Cooke Foundation Banky La Rocque Foundation Tesoro Hawaii Corporation Friends of Hawaii Charities Hawaii Children's Trust Fund MFSS Family of Friends Maui United Way