Director's Message

April 21, 2006

To: DHS employees

From: Dr. Bruce Goldberg, DHS Director

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

Mohandas Gandhi

Yesterday was a great day for our agency, those individuals who rely on us for services, our partners and stakeholders, and the people of Oregon.

Both chambers of the Oregon Legislature -- the Senate and the House -- overwhelmingly passed a bill in a one-day Special Session that allots the department $136.2 million to meet our projected budget shortfall. Thank you for all the work you have done to help on this issue.  In addition, thanks go to Governor Kulongoski, Senate President Courtney, House Speaker Minnis, and the Legislature for their leadership, their commitment to the needs of vulnerable citizens, and for making this happen.

Yesterday was a very different day from those we faced in November when the possibility of having to cut services to those Oregonians who needed them most was looming -- and we were facing increasing needs from that very population.

What was accomplished this week shows that there is a renewed confidence in DHS and greater visibility of the importance of our work.  We have created a great foundation to build upon as we move into the future.

Lawmakers praised our efforts to improve our financial practices, become more accountable and offer greater transparency. Legislators tied a portion of our Special Session financial appropriation to our continuing to make progress in improving fiscal accountability. We are committed to making these changes and will continue to report  regularly to the Legislative Emergency Board on the improvements being implemented.

We have accomplished a lot so far and I am very proud of the hard work everyone is doing.  But we have only begun this process.  There is a lot of hard work ahead.  As I have reported to you before, the department has taken an aggressive approach to improving our financial infrastructure. We are now beginning to implement a work plan developed by a  review team, led by the state controller, state treasurer, outside financial experts and  key agency staff. The team has developed a three-stage plan for improvements that will be made to the department in the next three to four months, the next year, and in the next biennium. You will begin to see many improvements as we implement this plan.

Most importantly however, please keep in mind the underlying reason we are doing all of this is -- so that we can better meet our mission.  The challenge for us is to stay focused on making significant and lasting headway in improving the lives of the people we serve every day.  This is not simply about improving our fiscal operations. 

Our work involves improving the lives and well-being of people, families and communities.  This takes a commitment by all of us to be willing to work in different ways and to consider different and more effective approaches.  It is this type of creative thinking, planning and implementation that will make a difference in the jobs that we do and the lives of the people we serve every day.

Lawmakers' action this week underscores the fact that the path we have taken to improve our fiscal infrastructure, financial accountability and transparency is the right one for Oregon.

Take a moment and celebrate our success. Each of us has played an important part in this and together we have accomplished a great deal. The department has a very bright future ahead.

To provide feedback email: DHS.Directorsoffice@state.or.us

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.