PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY
*Advocates for progressive public policy affecting children, youth and families.
*Testifies at important hearings on legislation affecting the private provider community.
*Informs policy makers about the needs of disabled and disadvantaged children and successful programs and agencies that serve them and their families.
*Maintains strong working relationships with public child welfare agencies.
*Provides access to and information about the Maryland Procurement System
*Supports public policy efforts at the national level initiated by the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA); the Alliance for Children and Families; the Foster Family-Based Treatment Association (FFTA); and the National Organization of State Associations for Children (NOSAC).

MARKETING & VISIBILITY
Emphasizes its members recent accomplishments through its monthly e-newsletter The MARFY Speaker.
Interacts with members and facilitates discussions about trends in child welfare through Facebook.
Communicates valuable information about public policy developments, state and national news in child and family services, and MARFY’s activities through Twitter.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
*Provides a variety of discounted and free continuing education opportunities for its members through the Training Academy, focusing on topics for direct care workers, social workers, counselors, therapists and program administrators.
*Hosts an Annual Conference featuring keynote speakers with timely and important messages and leading edge workshops that address critically
important issues to the field.
*Offers consultation and technical assistance in all areas of program operations to its member agency providers to promote the highest quality of care for children.

SAVE MONEY
MARFY partners with a number of corporate organizations to assist members with streamlining their services and experience some significant cost savings. Some of MARFY’s corporate members and partners are listed below:

Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP
(legal advocacy)

ChronoSolutions
(document warehouse)

Franklin & Prokopik
(employment legal counsel)

Human Services Company
(worker’s compensation administrators, general liability insurance)

Richard J. Princinsky Associates, Inc.
(health insurance broker)

Staffing Plus
(temporary staffing agency)

Training and eTracking Solutions
(online training)

Unemployment Services Trust
(non-profit unemployment insurance)

Wolverine Loss Control
(risk management services)