 |
|
|
Director's Message April 15, 2004To: DHS Employees From: Gary Weeks, Director Special message: Take our kids to work day — Thursday, April 22 As I said in my message a few weeks ago, I join Governor Kulongoski in enthusiastically supporting our participation in all school-to-work activities. Accordingly, I am pleased to remind you that, this Thursday, April 22, DHS will participate in a very special event — the annual "Take Our Kids to Work Day." We have planned a series of activities at the Human Services Building (HSB) in Salem that we hope will be meaningful and educational as well as fun for your children. Once again, I strongly encourage all field offices to do the same. You are invited to bring your own child, grandchild, niece, nephew or even a neighbor child to work that day. Please make sure to follow normal procedures in your building for checking in visitors. At HSB, please obtain visitor badges at the front desk. We recommend the children be at least nine years old, but if you choose to bring a younger child, we ask that you have a back-up plan in case the day becomes too long or too difficult. For younger children with shorter attention spans, you may want to consider having them participate for only a half-day or even just a few hours. An adult must be responsible for each child or group of children. That responsible adult may be: the parent, legal guardian or authorized relative; a teacher or school employee; or another adult who is a state employee and is designated by the parent or legal guardian to be with the child for this event. In some cases, schools may require proof of the child's attendance at this activity, so an individualized certificate of participation will be available for each child visiting HSB. There will be a number of scheduled events at HSB, and, of course, some of you may choose to have your child "shadow" you for part of the day. Among the HSB events will be an overview of DHS, a visit to the DHS computer center, tours of the State Capitol, and sessions where the children can learn about service (therapy) dogs, and pet them, too. Many events will repeat a number of times during the day. Please refer to the Take our Kids to Work Day 2004 Web page, for the full agenda of events scheduled to be held at HSB, so you can plan your day. Also on that page is important information from DAS regarding your responsibilities in having children visit state government sites. Because of HIPAA regulations, you will not be able to take visitors into cubicle areas that contain confidential client materials. Under those conditions, you might choose to take your child on a short tour of your facility and, with your colleagues, create some other appropriate activities for them in non-restricted areas. I hope all of you who have children who might enjoy visiting us for all or part of the day will choose to take part in what should be an enjoyable and meaningful event for everyone. If you have any questions about Take Our Kids to Work Day, please contact Cheri Tebeau-Harrell at (503) 945-5744 or on GroupWise. Additional message from DAS (also available as a PDF document) HSB schedule of events (also available as a PDF document) Back to top |
|
