Code of Ethics
Harmony Family Center, Inc. adheres to the highest ethical standards. To encourage trust and support amongst stakeholders and the community, Harmony Family Center is committed to its mission statement, being good stewards of resources, and upholding rigorous standards of conduct.
Harmony Family Center’s Code of Ethics is reflected in the agency’s Mission and Service Philosophy. That documents states as follows:
Mission Statement
Serving children, families and communities through adoption, counseling and education.
Service Philosophies:
a. Our focus is the child.
Reflected in all our actions are the needs of the child, first and foremost. It is the foundation of each program and is evidence in Harmony’s communications, services and relationships.
b. Every child has the right to a safe and healthy family.
We work hard to ensure that families are able to promote their child’s health, safety and emotional well-being through assessment, education, treatment and support.
c. Excellence is our standard not our goal.
We do not compromise the quality of care. Each program’s design is based on nationally held standards for excellence. In formal and informal ways we continually ask our clients, funding sources and staff, “How are we doing?” Program changes are made based on these evaluations, industry trends and research.
d. We value our staff.
We respect our staff by providing the education, tools and support needed to be the best. We value the work we do by valuing the people who do the work. We strive for a culture of inclusion where constructively challenging the ideas and thoughts of one another is encouraged.
e. We respect the rights of both adoptive and birth parents.
We accept and address the needs of both adoption and birth parents while maintaining a focus on the child’s best interests.
f. We value education.
Knowledge is empowering. We create and deliver vital education opportunities for our children, families and communities.
g. Collaboration is the hallmark of our work.
We believe that combining skills, perspective and ingenuity further our mission. Collaboration begins at home with teamwork. To that end, we develop national and local partnerships with the confidence that together we make a difference for those we serve.
h. Our work is unique, innovative and essential.
Through research, creativity, and experience, we design programs and explore opportunities that meet the diverse and complex needs of children, families and communities.
All employees are expected to adhere to sound moral and ethical standards. All programs, treatments and clinical interventions are developed and governed by NASW ethical standards.
Harmony regularly reviews program effectiveness and has mechanisms to incorporate lessons learned into future programs. Harmony is committed to improving program and organizational effectiveness and develops mechanisms to promote learning from its activities and the field. Harmony will be responsive to changes in its field of activity and the needs of its constituencies.
Harmony has a policy of promoting inclusiveness and its staff, board and volunteers reflect diversity in order to enrich its programmatic effectiveness. Harmony takes meaningful steps to promote inclusiveness in its hiring, retention, promotion, board recruitment and constituencies served.
Harmony provides comprehensive and timely information to the public, the media, and all stakeholders and is responsive in a timely manner to reasonable requests for information. All information about Harmony will fully and honestly reflect the policies and practices of the organization. Basic informational data about the organization, such as the Form 990, reviews and compilations, and audited financial statements will available to the public. All solicitation materials accurately represent the organization’s policies and practices and will reflect the dignity of program beneficiaries. All financial, organizational, and program reports will be complete and accurate in all material respects.
Harmony’s Annual Report includes the program name, scope of service and year end report. This report is distributed to all stakeholders and Harmony’s Board of Directors. The public can access this report by contacting the Human Resources Office at our main office. Notice is contained on Harmony’s web-site.