Director's Message

January 6, 2006

To: DHS employees

From: Dr. Bruce Goldberg, DHS Director

"The best way to predict the future is to create it."

Peter Drucker

I wanted to share with you this week an update on where we are with our budget situation. As you know, the department is facing a $172 million projected deficit for this biennium. That deficit is based on a number of factors. Increasing caseload, primarily on the Oregon Health Plan, is the largest factor. Cuts in federal match funds and revenue shifts and shortfalls in the 2003-05 biennium that were not included our 2005-07 budget are the other major factors

We have been meeting with the Governor and legislators over the past few weeks. I will keep you apprised of developments. As those discussions continue, it is critical that we focus on continuing to deliver high quality services; look for ways to improve efficiency, value and quality in the services we provide; improve our accountability and internal business processes; and build confidence in our agency and the important work that we do.

We have already begun to implement a number of changes. These include:

• Working with the State Controller and a team he has assembled to assess and improve our revenue tracking systems, accounting, and internal controls.
• Improving our caseload forecasting and monitoring. Forecasting has been at the heart of many of the budget issues in recent years and a number of options are being considered. A decision around this will be made soon.Pulling together a cross-department work group to discuss ways to improve the way we deliver services and to assure consistency around services, eligibility, and other issues.
• Bringing in additional expertise to assist us in assuring fiscal accountability and judicious management of our finances.

In challenging times, there are opportunities. This is a great opportunity, for example, to work more closely with our stakeholders and business partners to improve the way we deliver services. This is also a time to re-examine our work and for everyone to step up with creative suggestions for improvement.

There is no question that there will be a certain level of uncertainty among our clients, staff and others, during this budget period.  There are also likely to be many rumors and discussions that will not be helpful in resolving these issues.

I will do my best to keep you updated with the facts. I would ask that we all keep focused on the important work that we do -- knowing that we all need to continually be looking at how we can work more effectively to provide the services needed by hundreds of thousands of Oregonians we serve statewide.

I would like to hear your suggestions for improvements that could be made to our systems or any other constructive ways for us to all do our work better. Please email those suggestions to the Office of Public Affairs --  DHS.OPA@state.or.us

The suggestions will be compiled and forward to the Director's Office for review.

I started with a quote from Peter Drucker on the future. Let me conclude with another of his observations: "The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different."

Indeed the future will be different, and in the future DHS will be different than it is today. The issue for us is to be proactive in working to create a future that is better and brighter, more effective and accountable. Our ability to improve our organization and the way we do our work will allow us to better serve our clients and meet our mission.

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.