The Pennsylvania Center for Employee Ownership highlights JusticeWorks, a behavioral health provider and member of the 3LS family of companies, as an example of how employee ownership can carry a founder’s mission forward.
The Pennsylvania Center for Employee Ownership (PaCEO) has released a case study on JusticeWorks, a behavioral health organization serving children, adults, and families. Dan Heit founded JusticeWorks in 1999 on the belief that young people and families deserve services built around their individual strengths and needs. His “Whatever It Takes” philosophy still guides the organization, which has grown into a multistate provider with more than 650 employees across Pennsylvania, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Nevada, and Ohio.
JusticeWorks became employee-owned through an ESOP when it joined the Omni Family of Services and 3LS, a family of employee-owned companies on a mission to empower good in the world. JusticeWorks President Jeffrey Ralph said an Integration Governance Committee with representatives from all three organizations guided the transition. Rather than simply moving JusticeWorks into Omni’s systems, the teams are looking for where they can collaborate and learn from each other’s practices.
Shortly after the transition was announced to employees, Heit passed away. Ralph told the JusticeWorks team that Heit’s legacy would live on through the organization’s mission, its culture, and “his lasting gift of employee ownership.” PaCEO Executive Director Kevin McPhillips said JusticeWorks “exemplifies what employee ownership is all about,” noting how closely its priorities align with an ESOP and its commitment to honoring its founder’s goals.
Ralph sees employee ownership as a natural fit for mission-based human services work. “Our success depends on the dedication of employees who work every day to help children, adults, and families transform their lives,” he said. An ESOP gives those employees a way to share in the value they help create.
Learn more about the Pennsylvania Center for Employee Ownership at paceo.org.