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March 17, 2003 Contact: Gin Denison, program contact (503) 945-5665, Patricia Feeny (503) 945-6955 State advocacy office expands to meet growing needs of Oregonians To accommodate the recent surge in calls to the Governor's Advocacy Office, the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) is adding more staff and phone lines and expanding its hours. "Compared with the same period of time last year, we have seen more than a 500 percent increase in the volume of calls received by this office," said Gin Denison, who is the DHS governor's advocate and children's ombudsman. "The volume is up, the stories are worse and the solutions are not as easy." The Legislature this month approved five additional staff positions and two additional phone lines. The office will stay open until 7 p.m. Callers may still leave phone messages after the office closes or email dhs.info@state.or.us In addition to the increase in phone calls, the office is receiving more than double the amount of email messages as last year. In the first six weeks of the year, office staff managed 21 percent of the total number of cases (4,099) they worked in all of 2002. If this volume continues, they will staff 7,460 cases by the end of 2003 for an overall increase of 182 percent. Denison said the majority of the calls coming in are regarding health issues, including loss of prescription drug benefits. "I have never heard so much pain, so much helplessness," she said. "The loss of hope is what is most frightening." Despite the high volume of callers, Denison says she is concerned that certain populations' seniors and people with mental illness, for example, are not contacting the office. "I would encourage family members to take the initiative and make the call for their loved ones," she said. "We have a collective, ethical responsibility to look out for each other, starting with our own families." The Governor's Advocacy Office serves citizens experiencing a problem with, or seeking information about programs or services provided by DHS. These concerns include child and elder abuse and neglect, access to health and dental programs, homelessness, personal or family crisis, drug and alcohol treatment, mental health programs and services for people with developmental disabilities. The Governor's Advocacy Office can be reached by calling toll free (800) 442-5238. The office may also be reached by email at dhs.info@state.or.us |
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