Partnership with FEI Yields High Dividends

When the for-profit company FEI Behavioral Health, Milwaukee, prospers, members of the Alliance for Children and Families earn a social and capacity-building dividend. Yet, they are insulated from the risks typically associated with being corporate shareholders.

“In a way, FEI enables Alliance members to invest back into themselves,” says Ted Uczen, president of FEI. “FEI allows Alliance members to do what they’re already doing—like purchasing an employee benefit service, or marketing their training program—but in a way that can have a greater impact on a larger scale, and keenly serves their own interests.

FEI has a deep-rooted partnership with the Alliance; the two are affiliated under a parent organization, Families International. This relationship allows FEI to operate as a for-profit, yet invest in the Alliance, providing the Alliance with additional capacity to serve its members.

FEI is a national provider of workforce resilience solutions for employers. These services help maximize productivity by ensuring employees have access to services that promote behavioral health; encourage physical health; and address any personal, family, or life issues.

During the past two years, FEI has undergone changes that position it to maximize relationships with the Alliance and its members. Chief among these changes was the hiring of Uczen, who seeks to make FEI’s three primary channels for partnering with Alliance members more robust:

1. Offering FEI’s services and products at a discount
   
2. Giving members a preferred status and access to earned income through FEI’s crisis and employee assistance program (EAP) provider networks
   
3. Providing revenue potential by collaborating in efforts to market and sell members’ and FEI’s products and services

Discounted Employee Benefit Package Services

Alliance member HopeSparks, Tacoma, Wash., partners with FEI in two ways. The first is by purchasing EAP services through FEI.

FEI developed the first national EAP network in 1979 to support Xerox Corporation. Utilizing this network and a national call center, the program helps employees address personal challenges, such as finding child care, addressing short-term counseling needs, or accessing financial or legal consulting services. In addition, it supports and educates employees and corporations about being prepared for and handling crises.

Although some nonprofit organizations do not offer EAPs to their employees, David Duea, president and CEO of HopeSparks, says it is a critical benefit for his organization’s staff.

“The workers at nonprofit agencies have very stressful jobs,” he says. “We provide behavioral and mental health services to our clients, so we feel we should provide them to our staff as well. Healthy staff is the most important resource for helping families. If we don’t have healthy staff, we are not going to do a good job of helping others.”

According to the National Business Group on Health, behavioral health challenges account for 217 million missed workdays in the United States each year. Additionally, issues such as depression and stress cost businesses approximately $300 billion annually.

FEI’s EAP is designed to help reduce the stresses associated with daily life. In a 2009 and 2010 study conducted by an independent, nationally recognized EAP consultant, FEI’s services were found to help decrease employees’ personal stresses, thereby increasing productivity and reducing absenteeism by as much as 90 percent among FEI clients.

“There are other companies Alliance members could turn to for purchasing EAP and other workplace solutions,” Uczen says. “The difference between those companies and FEI is that when Alliance members purchase from FEI, they’re investing in the resilience of their workforce and essentially reinvesting back into the Alliance and into themselves. That investment leads to a stronger member benefits package and higher return on investment for their membership dues.”

Preferred Status in FEI’s Provider Network 

A second way HopeSparks, and roughly 100 other Alliance members, partner with FEI is by becoming part of the provider network. FEI’s vast provider network is separated between the areas of EAP and crisis management.

The EAP provider network has more than 8,000 clinicians, who specialize in areas such as substance abuse, trauma, and critical incident debriefings. The network includes many affiliate organizations, like HopeSparks. When employees of companies in HopeSparks’ home area dial into the FEI EAP call center for support, FEI authorizes HopeSparks to offer clinical assessments and treatment locations. In return, HopeSparks is compensated for its work.

“We like to have very diversified funding streams,” Duea says. “The relationship that we have with FEI helps stabilize our funding. We have definitely seen increased referrals and a good fee-for-service through FEI’s provider network.”

FEI’s second network, the international crisis responder network, consists of individuals who provide short-term contract work during an emergency. Crisis responders are trained, experienced, and stand ready to react to major catastrophic incidents, such as plane crashes, shootings, or workplace-specific crises.

While any agency or individual can contract with FEI through either of these networks, only Alliance members receive preferred status. When needs arise, they are offered the contract work first.

Alliance member Family Service Agency, Phoenix, has participated in FEI’s provider network for nearly 30 years. “Our partnership with FEI gives us the opportunity to orient another segment of the workforce to our agency,” says Sorrel Bowman-Rogers, president and CEO of Family Service Agency. “These new clients are then apt to be ambassadors for us within the community by referring co-workers, friends, and neighbors.”

Partners in Marketing and Sales

One of the newest ways FEI is engaging with Alliance members is through a more dynamic marketing and sales partnership offering. This manifests itself in two primary ways.

First, Alliance members have the option to expand the market reach of their products and services by allowing FEI to help their organizations with sales.

For example, Alliance member Children & Families First, Wilmington, Del., partners with FEI to resell its backup child care and elder care service known as Just in Time Care (JITC). JITC saves businesses money by assuring employees are able to make it to work when their traditional child care or elder care arrangements are not available.

Children & Families First benefits from the extensive market reach and corporate connections of FEI, something the agency does not have the capacity to establish on its own.

In return, Children & Families First helps FEI expand its customer base by promoting FEI among its clients—which represents the second marketing and sales partnership vehicle.

Leslie Newman, CEO of Children & Families First, describes this partnership as “a great opportunity to provide a full continuum of services to our clients, as we do not offer the same full range of EAP services as FEI. This partnership makes us more competitive, and our clients have access to the richness of our combined continuum.”

When Alliance members help sell FEI’s services to businesses in their local markets, the organizations earn commissions for any sales. Additionally, if that member is part of FEI’s provider network, they become the preferred provider for any customers they help attract.

“Our sales and marketing partnerships are very flexible,” Uczen says. “We help Alliance members market their training programs, service programs, and more. We are always willing to customize and explore new ideas. It’s an exciting time for us, and we hope Alliance members feel the same way.”

Partnership with FEI Yields High Dividends