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Director's Message
July 2, 2004
To: DHS Employees
From: Gary Weeks, Director
1. The vital role of grants
Helping people with disabilities to become employed. Working with partners to prepare Oregon to respond to a bioterrorist attack.
Improving care for people with diabetes and other diseases, including diseases that occur at particularly high rates among minority groups.
These are a few of the many activities that our department is able to fund with grant dollars from the federal government and other sources.
Grants provide excellent opportunities to pilot innovative programs, to supplement existing programs, to create new partnerships, or to conduct research that helps us improve our services.
We are required to seek legislative approval each time we apply for grants. At its meeting last week, the Legislature's Emergency Board approved our requests to apply for 15 grants in mental health, public health — where grant funds account for a major portion of the budget — and other areas.
I thought a closer look at a few of these would help show the importance of grant funds in our work.
Increasing independence for people with disabilities. Legislators approved our request to apply for a Medicaid grant that would build on our nationally recognized leadership in helping people with disabilities become employed.
We already have established programs to allow people with disabilities to work without losing essential, federally funded health care services. We also have put in place mentoring and other programs to support this population.
However, barriers to employment remain. And some provisions in federal law that can supply cash benefits or medical coverage are under-used or poorly coordinated. This grant will allow us, working with stakeholders, to address remaining barriers and to develop a more systematic approach in this important area.
Expanding homeless outreach. Legislators gave us the go-ahead to apply for a federal grant to support outreach, treatment and recovery services for homeless Native American adults in the Portland area.
We would contract the grant funds to the Native American Rehabilitation Association, which would provide service to an estimated 225 additional clients. This is a client group that faces significant obstacles in connecting with services in our system.
Building drug-free families. We received approval to apply for a three-year Access to Recovery grant. This is part of a major federal initiative to expand access to addiction and mental health services for parents who are involved with the child welfare system. Many of these parents are single women, and many struggle with addiction to methamphetamine.
A full range of recovery services is essential if these parents are to become healthy, drug free and able to raise their children.
A key feature of this grant is an opportunity to pilot a system in which clients use vouchers to pay for services, including those provided by churches or other faith groups. The intent is to increase the choices of providers available to the clients.
As is often the case with grants, this one requires us to gather data and demonstrate positive results in order to receive continued funding.
Choosing our opportunities. It's important that we focus our efforts as we decide which among many grant opportunities we should pursue.
We use a set of principles to guide us in these decisions. In considering potential grant opportunities, we ask questions such as these:
- How does the grant advance our mission?
- How might other areas of the department be affected?
- Do we have the staff, technology or other supports necessary to accomplish the purpose of the grant?
- Will critical partners participate with us in the grant activity?
- Does the grant advance our knowledge base through innovation, new technology or new strategies?
- Will we have to commit state funds after the grant period ends?
- Will the grant enhance our ability to better serve our clients?
Grant opportunities are as varied and diverse as our work. Particularly in these times of scarce public resources, it's important that continue to work with the Legislature to use grants to improve the services we provide to Oregonians.
I'd also like to add a note of thanks to our budget and program staff, who worked hard to prepare information for legislators, the Legislative Fiscal Office and the DAS Budget and Management Division to use in reviewing our grant proposals. Their work clearly results in enhanced services for the people of our state.
2. Now it's official
Also last week, the state Senate confirmed my nomination as director of the Department. I'm grateful for the support of the Rules Committee and the full Senate.
I have enjoyed rekindling friendships and connections from my previous tenure at DHS, and in the months ahead, I look forward to continuing our efforts to provide the best possible service to Oregonians.
I also hope to see many of you in the fall, when I will be making a series of visits around Oregon to meet with our staff, with local reporters and editors, and with representatives of local government, Indian tribes and others in our communities.
3. Happy Fourth of July
A long weekend is in store for many Americans as we celebrate our country's birthday.
If your plans include lighting fireworks, please handle them prudently, and set an example of safety for children. In 2003, Oregon had 464 reported fireworks-related fires — almost 50 percent more than in 2002. And youngsters 17 years of age or less were involved in more than a third of them.
Please be safe, too, as you travel our roads, swim in our lakes and rivers and pursue other activities.
I wish all of you a restful and satisfying holiday.
4. Food for thought
"Let us work for an America that is not driven apart by differences but instead is united around shared values and respect for our diversity. Let us work for an America in which every one of us, without regard to race or religious belief or gender or station in life, can achieve our dreams. In this way we will best pay tribute to those who, 220 years ago, pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to guarantee our freedom."
— President Bill Clinton, Presidential Proclamation, July 4, 1996.
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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 a document on this Web site to be provided to you in another format, please send an email to dhs.forms@state.or.us or call (503) 945-7021, fax (503) 373-7690 or TTY (503) 947-5080. If you know of others who need this accommodation, please let them know it is available.
Oregon Department of Human Services
Director's Office
500 Summer St. NE E15, Salem, OR 97301-1097
Phone: (503) 945-5944
Fax: (503) 378-2897
TTY: (503) 947-6214
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