Kim Batts serves as our Director of Performance Quality Improvement. Prior to WMPC, Kim served as the Director of Quality for an integrated health/community mental health organization in Detroit. Kim is great at listening to all opinions and she’s amazing at synthesizing and developing a plan. We respect Kim’s calm demeanor, thoughtful analysis of our work, and the passion she has for improving outcomes for children and families.
Kim has 25 years of social work experience, which includes working with persons with developmental and physical disabilities, adoption, foster care, international adoption, and international child welfare. Prior to her position in community mental health, Kim worked at Bethany Christian Services for 11 years in a variety of roles.
Kim holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Calvin University and a Master of Social Work degree from Western Michigan University.
Years in nonprofit – 25
Why you wanted to be in this field:
Childhood is such a critical time. I’m passionate about working to ensure children feel safe, valued, and loved, so we can set them up for success in life. I’ve worked in child welfare the majority of my career, and I hope to apply what I’ve learned to improve the lives of children and families that are experiencing foster care in Kent County.
What is your role at WMPC? What are your responsibilities in this role?
Director of Performance Quality Improvement (PQI). My role is to develop and implement the PQI Plan, ensure outcomes are measured and reported accurately, and ensure each stakeholder group has input into the system.
What do you anticipate being the most rewarding part about your job?
Ensuring the voices of all stakeholder groups are heard and the system is improved as a result of their valuable input. As social workers, we frequently miss the step of taking feedback from the persons we serve and utilizing this to improve the system.
What is one thing you wish people knew about foster care?
To remember that the goal is to reunify children with their family of origin. As a system, we can lose sight of this goal at times, directing more resources and support to foster/adoptive parents than families from whom these children were removed.
How has your experience in the nonprofit sector changed your perspective?
That systems tend to lean toward the status quo; as a result, change within systems can take significant time. In order to counteract this, we need strong, innovative leadership and brave staff and stakeholders willing to share their input and experience in order to make positive change for children.
What is your hope for WMPC and the Kent County foster care system?
I hope that Kent County will remain committed to addressing disparities within the system and improving outcomes for all children. I am so grateful for this opportunity to improve the outcomes for children and families.