Our Mission & Values

Our Mission
A Better Way empowers children and families to develop the insights, life skills, and permanent relationships that promote their social, emotional, educational and economic well-being.

Organizational Values
Family Empowerment
We believe that each family has inherent strengths and the capability to create a positive and healthy environment that contributes to the well being of a child. A Better Way strives to build on those strengths in a caring, non-judgmental, and supportive environment and to support the child in building lasting connections and stability in their lives.

Successful Outcomes
We believe that positive results for families come from the creative, efficient, and appropriate application of a wide variety of evidence-based practices. A Better Way staff will strive to use best business practices in delivering services to the children and families we serve.

Cultural Humility
We celebrate and respect the cultural and ethnic heritage of each person. A Better Way approaches diversity with respect and builds on the unique differences of each family in a compassionate environment built on respect and inclusiveness.

Community Collaboration
We believe that we can only achieve excellence in service through honest cooperation and collaboration with the families themselves, with community partners, and with governmental agencies. A Better Way strives to create ownership and responsibility with all agency partners for successfully achieving permanence for children.

Professional Workforce
We believe that our families, funders, and the community deserve services delivered by a qualified, trained, and professional workforce. A Better Way employees and volunteers are committed to providing services in ways that demonstrate our integrity, respect, resourcefulness and passion.

History

A Better Way was founded in 1996 as a Foster Family Program. Since then, we have grown into a comprehensive foster and adoption services agency, providing adoption, community training, parent advocacy, and behavioral health services to children and families at risk or involved with the foster care system. The mission of A Better Way is to empower children and families to develop the insights, life skills, and permanent relationships that promote their social, emotional, educational and economic well-being.

Since 1996, A Better Way has provided foster care placements to more than 2,000 children and has finalized 300 adoptions. We are the one of the few organizations in Alameda, San Francisco, and Solano counties with expertise in assessing and providing behavioral health services to children 0-5 involved in the social services system through pre- or post-adoption, outpatient mental health, and reunification services.

A Better Way has provided behavioral health services to close to 2,500 children, many of whom live in our communities’ most impoverished and violence-ridden neighborhoods. In addition to behavioral health services, we provide intensive support and case management for parents pursuing reunification through our Parent Engagement Program with the help of parents who have successfully navigated the reunification process.

As a training center for foster parents and service providers, A Better Way provides about 2,000 hours of training per year in Alameda and Solano Counties – primarily through Title IV-E Training contracts with Chabot-Las Positas Community College. We coordinate and provide comprehensive training on an array of topics to professionals from other agencies, A Better Way staff, County personnel, and foster and birth parents.

Annually, A Better Way serves over 450 foster and adoptive children and families though behavioral health services and the Parent Engagement Program. All of A Better Way’s programs emphasize a strengths-based, capacity-building approach that helps parents and families achieve lasting success.

Join Our Team

To view our current openings and submit your application, please click here. Thank You!

Since opening our doors in 1996, A Better Way has become one of the leading organizations in the Bay Area that provides services to children in foster care or at risk of entering foster care. A Better Way provides foster-adoption services, parent advocacy, behavioral health services, and training.

Our team has been the cornerstone of our success, and a passion for helping the community of children in foster care both drives and unites us. A Better Way reflects the rich cultural community of the clients we serve: we embrace multi-cultural and cross-cultural diversity, and provide services in a variety of languages, including English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian and Vietnamese.

We believe in an innovative, integrative service model, and in joining the team, you will help enrich and support these practices to assist families with their mental health, parenting skills, housing and other basic needs, providing them with the necessary resources to reach their desired goals.

Benefits Offered to A Better Way Staff
Medical
Employees are provided with a choice of Medical plans (High Deductible, Copay, and Health Savings Account) with the agency paying 100% of the employee premium on at least one plan. We also offer coverage options for your spouse/domestic partner and dependents.

Dental Plan
Delta Dental is the largest and most trusted dental provider in the country and A Better Way has chosen them to handle your care. A Better Way offers a Delta Premier plan that is a managed fee-for-service program with freedom to choose any dentist. A Better Way covers 100% of the employee premium while offering the employee additional coverage for spouse/domestic partner and dependents.

Vision
Visions services are provided by Vision Service Plan. VSP is the national leader in vision and eye care benefits

Life Insurance and AD&D
A Better Way provides all employees with $10,000 of Basic Life and AD & D insurance. In addition to the Basic Life & AD&D Insurance, optional Voluntary Life (and/or) Accidental Death & Dismemberment Insurance (AD&D) is available to A Better Way employees.

Dependent Care
A Better Way provides an IRS Section 125 Flexible Spending Account option for Dependent Care. This account allows employees to set aside out of pocket expenses for dependent care pre-tax.

Retirement
A Better Way offers a 403(b) plan which is 100% funded by the employee.

Time off
A Better Way has very generous time off policies. We have 11 paid holidays each year. You will also start accruing PTO from your first day. You accrue up to four weeks per year of PTO in your first two years of employment and five weeks per year for three years or more of employment. A Better Way also offers several other types of unpaid and paid leave.

Employee Assistance Program
A free Employee Assistance Program is available to A Better Way employees. This program provides confidential consultations for relationship issues, health information, stress management, child/eldercare, professional development, legal and financial concerns.

Training
We support professional development through a multitude of training opportunities. We encourage professional growth.