INSIDE DHS - IN THE NEWS, FEBRUARY 2014

(MUSIC PLAYS) 

Mark Beutler: Hello everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm Mark Beutler from the Office of Communications and it's time to find out what's happening In The News. First up this month, we want to welcome our new Chief of Staff Lee Anne Bruce Boone. 

No Audio: Lee Ann Bruce Boone, Oklahoma Department of Human Services Chief of Staff

Lee Anne has been with our Agency since the first of the year and comes to us from Tennessee where she served as Assistant Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Human Services and also as Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources for the Williamson County Board of Education. We are all very glad to have Lee Anne join us in Oklahoma and we sincerely hope she finds her time in the Sooner State to be rewarding and enjoyable. 

Now we'd like to bring you up to date on the "Putting You First" customer service campaign. "Putting You First" is a set of customer service standards designed to help all of us remember how to deliver high-quality customer service. We ran an in-depth Feature Story on "Putting You First" back in November to introduce these Customer Services Standards to all DHS employees. 

No Audio: Renee Banks û Chief Counsel Center for Customer Services, Legislative Liaison, Child Support Services

Renee Banks: The importance of this campaign is helping us understand how we can use those natural talents we already have to the benefit of our customers. Customer service isnÆt necessarily second nature. I mean, it may be our nature to help people, but we donÆt always know how to bring that to the table.

No Audio: Connie Schlittler û Director, Office of Planning, Research and Statistics
 
Connie Schlittler: We have an infonet website thatÆs been set up for all our employees to access information about the customer service initiative, "Putting You First." YouÆll see our new customer service standards that have been adopted by the agency. We want everyone to go out there and look at them and give us feedback, and let us know what their thoughts are on the standards. We also want you to go and nominate your co-worker. If you see someone that's just great at delivering customer service or even your team, we want you to nominate them so we can start recognizing our employees throughout the state on their services to the community as well as to the folks that come in and ask for services from DHS. 

Mark Beutler: It's been just a few months since this initiative was kicked off and we're happy to report there has been an overwhelmingly positive response. We thought it might be a good idea to check in with Connie Schlittler to find out just how well the project is going. She shared more good news with us. 

Connie Schlittler: We gave out our first awards this month for November and December. We're really pleased we recognized 20 individuals and when we announced the awards, within two days we had 70 more awards. So people are really being active in the awards and recognition process and we're really pleased, we want to see people submitting the names of their co-workers, their employees or just employees they interact with and have a great customer service experience. 

What I've liked about it is it really highlights the customer service standards that we've created in the "Putting You First" campaign, such as friendliness, informed, respectful, supportive and timely. Because those are the behaviors that we want to see in the customer service standards and those are the kinds of things that we're seeing through the awards process. 

You know, Tom Peters says we should recognize the behaviors that we want. So this is a behavior we really want at DHS is great customer service and even though 70 nominations in two days is a lot, we have many more. We have over 7,000 employees, so we'd really like to see more people recognizing each other for customer service.  And I think it really gets everyone talking and thinking about customer service and seeing it in the workplace, so... 

Mark Beutler: The "Putting You First" customer service standards have injected a lot of positive energy into our delivery model. Please keep these standards in mind as you go about your daily business. Our next items concern upcoming events you may want to make plans to attend. On February 24th all Oklahomans are invited to Oklahoma City for the 2014 Senior Day at the Capitol. This annual event is a chance for Oklahoma's seniors and their advocates to discuss the needs of the more than 711,000 citizens over age 60 in our state. Our own Aging Services Division sponsors this important day of advocacy. Katherine McRae from Aging Services told us more about this year's event. 

No Audio: Katherine McRae û Program Administrative Assistant, Aging Services

Katherine McRae: Senior Day is a great opportunity to learn about important issues that impact seniors in the state. It gives them a chance to have their voices heard and also learn about a lot of great services that are available to them. I think we've hosted the event more than 30 years. It's a day where we open the Capitol up to seniors from around the state so that they can learn about legislation that may impact them and have the opportunity to talk to their legislators about what's on their minds. We would love to have a great turn out and have a great opportunity for people to get information about services that are very important to them and enjoy the day and take the time to advocate on any issues they may be interested in. 

We do have online registration until February 7th. Now, the event is free so this is just so we can get information to prepare packets in advance but onsite registration is available so even if you don't register by February 7th, you are still welcome to show up and we will do do onsite registration that day. 

No Audio: Monday, February 24, 2014 at the Oklahoma State Capitol. 10 û 11:30 a.m. Program, House Chamber. 11:30 û 2 p.m. Resource Fair, 2nd floor. Free event to: learn about legislation and issues affecting older Oklahomans; share your ideas, needs and concerns with your state legislators; visit with nonprofit agencies to learn about their services. Visit www.okseniorday.com for more information and to pre-register by Feb 7. For more information call the Senior Info-Line at 1-800-211-2116 or DHS Aging Services at 405-521-2281.

No Audio: Oklahoma Senior Day at the Capitol. Registration: 8:30 a.m. Tours: 9 a.m. Program: 10 a.m. Information fair: 11:30 a.m.

Mark Beutler: The program will begin at 10 a.m. in the House Chambers and speakers will include Senators Frank Simpson and Jim Halligan, Representative David Dank, DHS Aging Services Director Lance Robertson and DHS Director Ed Lake. This event always garners a lot of attention and is a wonderful way to remind lawmakers about the needs of this growing segment of our population. 

In other upcoming events, the Spring Practice and Policy Lecture Series has begun and there are some outstanding speakers lined up. The season started in January with a lecture on dual status youth. Many children involved with the child welfare system also have repeated exposure to the juvenile justice system. This dual status sometimes goes unnoticed by officials in both programs. John Tuell, the Director of the Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center presented an informative talk on ways to integrate services to youth who find themselves involved with both systems. You can find this lecture along with the other Practice and Policy Lectures by going to the DHS website. 

The February lecture will take place on the 25th and will feature Ann Trudgeon and Helen Kutz from the Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council. Their lecture entitled, "Communicating Respectfully with People Who Have Disabilities" will be of interest to everyone. There's not one of us who won't come into contact with a person who has a disability in our professional or personal life. This discussion will offer insight into communicating our intentions clearly to all people with whom we come in contact. The lecture will be held at noon at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City. 

Looking ahead, the March lecture is entitled "Infant Mental Health: Meeting the Needs of Infants and Toddlers in the Child Welfare System" and it will be presented by Dr. Brenda Jones Harden from the University of Maryland. Please note this lecture will be held at the Oklahoma Judicial Building Auditorium in Oklahoma City. 

April brings us Dr. Julie Miller-Cribbs from the University of Oklahoma speaking on "Adverse Childhood Experiences: Responsive Practices in Service Delivery Across Multiple Domains" Then to round out the Spring series we'll welcome Calvin Williams, the Director of Fatherhood Services for Public Strategies, as he presents his lecture entitled, "Embracing Fatherhood, Leveraging Fathers: Strengthening Families, Children and Community." As usual this series continues to provide a lineup of experts speaking on topics we can all use. Our thanks go to the DHS Office of Planning, Research and Statistics and the OU Center for Public Management who put this series together and allow us to post them online for you to view at your convenience. 

No Audio: Free Relationship Workshop, February 1, 10 a.m. û 4 p.m., OKC or Tulsa. foreverforreal.com 877-435-8033

February 1st was the date for the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative's "Forever, For Real" relationship skills workshops. There were two gatherings: one in Oklahoma City and one in Tulsa. The Oklahoma Marriage Initiative partners with DHS to provide access to relationship skills and knowledge that foster healthy relationships and contribute to family stability. They do this by focusing on communication skills and problem-solving strategies. The services of the OMI are available to everyone. Please take a little time to go to their website and browse the events they host throughout the year. You'll find a listing of all the workshops by filling in a date range and/or a county preference. There are workshops for people in romantic relationships, single people, parents and just about any other relationship in which communication is important. Workshops are open to anyone but you must sign up in advance. We share this with you as a resource for client referral and for help in your own relationships. Visit the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative's website at okmarriage.org. 

No Audio: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow û 29th Annual Black heritage Celebration. Tuesday, February 18, 2014 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Metro Technology Center, Springlake campus, 1900 Springlake Drive, Oklahoma City. Contact Vicki Pettiford 405.522.1611

The last event we want to remind you about is the 29th Annual Black  Heritage Celebration. Each February as we celebrate Black History Month, the Department of Human Services hosts the Black Heritage Celebration. This year the event will be held on February 18th from 11 to 1 at the Springlake campus of the Metro Technology Centers in Oklahoma City. The celebration is a partnership between the Oklahoma Department of Human Services' Office for Civil Rights, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and the Oklahoma Historical Society. If you've ever attended this event, you know what a wonderful tribute it is, celebrating the rich contributions made by our African-American community in Oklahoma. Lunch is served, entertainment is provided and awards are presented. Please make plans to attend this event. You'll be glad you did. 

And that's it for this month. We'll see you next time. Thanks for joining us.