Director's Message

September 9, 2005

To: DHS employees

From: Bryan Johnston, Interim DHS Director

The rising floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina overtook most other news this week. I'll share where DHS is on Katrina, but I don't want to lose sight of other ongoing efforts. This message includes a little piece on Values, DHS-related Hurricane Katrina efforts, some information on the upcoming Diversity Awareness Week, and a Food Stamp accuracy success story.

On Values: In my next message, I'll begin the discussion of the DHS core values. I'd like to treat them one at a time over the next five messages. I want to keep the concept of DHS being a value-driven organization in everybody's mind. The five DHS Core Values -- Integrity, Stewardship, Responsibility, Respect, and Professionalism -- could be seminars in themselves, but I'll start next week with a discussion of what DHS means by "Integrity." Meanwhile, I'll leave you with one quote (I think from P.G. Wodehouse, but I'm not positive  -- so if any of you know…) that helps describe why articulating our values is so important. "Unless within you there is something about you, you will surrender to that which is around you."

Hurricane Katrina: Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf hard and raised warning flags throughout the rest of the nation. Oregon and DHS are actively working on two fronts: how best to be of assistance to our sister states and Katrina's victims, and how best to ensure we are prepared for an emergency in our state.

The immediate response to Katrina is happening on several levels. The Governor's Office is coordinating various efforts involving the multiple agencies and organizations involved statewide. DHS will extend our full range of services to all evacuees who reach our state. We've offered department assistance from areas like public health to food stamp certifiers. Local offices are coordinating with the City of Portland and Multnomah County  working directly with evacuees on services.  DHS self-sufficiency staff will be on site starting tomorrow morning.  They've had about 40 self-evacuees show up at Red Cross so far.

And we have many individuals involved, for example: Terry Lally, a DHS psychologist, who has volunteered on his own time to help the Red Cross in providing mental health services; Oliver Trussel, a DHS volunteer, who left last week for Baton Rouge with other American Red Cross volunteers from Central Oregon, donating at least three weeks to the relief effort; Rey Agullana, an Alcohol & Drug Prevention Specialist, who has been redeployed from the National Guard to help with the relief efforts; and Christie Holmgren, DHS emergency preparedness communications coordinator, who is volunteering her own time to help out at the Joint Information Center working with media and public information. There is a great spirit among staff of wanting to be involved and helpful. More than 100 self-sufficiency workers have also put their names on a list of volunteers to deploy to stricken areas, if needed.

Diversity Awareness Week: Diversity Awareness Week is September 12-16 and during that time we will celebrate and further promote diversity throughout the department statewide. We are encouraging local offices and units to schedule events during this week that highlight diversity. Check with your local manager to see what is planned for your area.

Food Stamp Accuracy Success: The New Market Theater Food Stamp team hit a 96.55 percent accuracy rate in the latest numbers released in July through a unique proactive approach to eliminate errors. Weekly, the team meets to address errors and to share expertise. The team rarely gets cited for the same discrepancy twice. The meetings have evolved into informal and spirited peer training sessions where each worker introduces an aspect of policy to share and discuss. The rules of the meeting are simple: all members are respected, the questions are important, and any disagreements are resolved in writing following consultation with policy analysts. Congratulations on their proactive team efforts!

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.