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Director's Message July 1, 2005
To: DHS employees From: Bryan Johnston, Interim DHS Director
"Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't." - Pete Seeger
"Education is experience reconsidered." - Plato?
I start this week's message with those two education quotes because I sometimes think I should be paying tuition to work here. Don't worry, I'm not going to go that far, but I am learning a great deal - and, at least I thought, I came to the department with a fair amount of knowledge.
I'll start this week with:
Budget
First, I start with a correction. In discussing mandatory and "non-mandatory" services last week, I said that those titles were from Oregon statute. That was incorrect. They are budget conventions.
In Oregon, for budgeting purposes, the state categorizes some programs as "mandatory" (such as Medicaid and Food Stamps) or as "non-mandatory" (such as TANF cash assistance and Employment Related Day Care). However, "non-mandatory" is something of a misnomer because these established programs all serve low-income Oregonians.
Budgets have now started to move rapidly in the legislature and the "non-mandatory" issues mentioned above relating to caseload growth - estimated to cost the department approximately $25.4 million - are not currently a part of the House and Senate budgets. Although matters are not yet finalized, these decisions will cause us to have to make hard choices down the road.
Staley Agreement
The department surpassed the targets set for this biennium in regard to the Staley settlement, which impacts thousands of Oregonians with developmental disabilities statewide. As you may recall, the Staley settlement came as the result of a lawsuit in 2000 seeking to eliminate waiting for services, developing home supports, and providing universal access and equity to those in need of help.
The settlement set a target of 4,122 individuals who needed to be served through DHS this biennium, including 1,000 who are new to adult support services. The department surpassed these targets -- serving 4,246 this biennium, including 1,116 people who have not been served before by adult support services.
This is good news and shows that the department is complying in good faith with the agreement. Good job to all of you who have been working hard to implement this settlement.
Director's Excellence Award
This award stems from another lawsuit settlement. As a result of Miranda B v. Kitzhaber, DHS promised to facilitate transitions for many people who would otherwise remain institutionalized.
Karl Reer, Residential Supports Coordinator for OMHAS, has single-handedly developed over 100 new residential placements for clients under supervision of the Psychiatric Security Services Board and the Extended Care Management Unit.
He has further developed 180 additional placements to be open for care for people with severe mental illness. His work is the reason Oregon has exceeded our requirements under the settlement agreement.
DHS Director
The job is posted today and our Web site survey for you to give input is now up and running. Please take the time to go to: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=263751163419 and give us your input. We'll compile it and forward the results to the Governor's Office.
Have a good 4th of July. As a nation, we have much to be proud of and much left to do.
This message is intended for all department employees. Please read it electronically, if possible. Managers and supervisors are asked to share the message each week with employees who do not have email access.
If you have a disability and need this message to be provided to you in another format, please send an email to dhs.forms@state.or.us, or call (503) 947-5107. You can also fax your request to (503) 373-7690, or call (503) 947-5080 for TTY service. If you know of others who need this accommodation, please let them know it is available. |
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