Director's Message

Sept. 1, 2006

To: All DHS employees

From: Bruce Goldberg, Director

What's in a name?

~William Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet; Act II, Scene II)

DHS has experienced many organizational and program changes during the past few years, and to everyone's credit the one constant has been our focus on our mission to assist people to become independent, healthy and safe.

And I support that focus. I believe that what's truly important is how we work together and what we accomplish, not what we call ourselves. At the same time, though, I think that what we call our programs can help clarify our purpose and role.

It was with the intent to clarify our organizational and functional structure -- not to change it -- that I recently asked the members of the DHS Cabinet to develop more consistent naming conventions for the various organizational components within DHS. I believe this consistency will be particularly helpful during the upcoming legislative session as we explain to the Legislature how we work together as an agency to serve Oregonians.

The results of the Cabinet's discussions included two key agreements:

• The top six organizational components of DHS, known variously as clusters, programs and offices, will be called divisions. This is in keeping with the standard naming conventions within state government, and will make it easier for the public and legislators to understand our organizational structure.
• Service delivery areas will become districts, a term that also aligns with the rest of state government.

Cabinet members made a specific effort to select division names that maintained as much continuity as possible with existing names in order to avoid confusing staff, clients and partners. The updated names (and acronyms) will be:

• Addictions and Mental Health Division (AMH),
• Administrative Services Division (ASD),
• Children, Adults and Families Division (CAF),
• Division of Medical Assistance Programs (DMAP),
• Public Health Division (PHD), and
• Seniors and People with Disabilities Division (SPD).

Two additional changes of note are that the Office of Public Affairs has been renamed the Office of Communications, and an Office of Public Policy and Government Relations has been created with existing staff within the Director's Office.

I expect the transition to these names to occur gradually as we update Web pages, run out of old stationery and business cards, and update forms, rules, policies and training materials. During the next few months you will see both old and new names in use, and that's fine. We don't need to make these changes overnight and they should not cause us additional expense. More importantly, they are the direction we are headed, and they are in keeping with my goals of making DHS programs and activities consistent, transparent and understandable.

As we migrate to these new names, I know I can rely on you to continue to focus on accomplishing the agency's mission and providing excellent customer service. I am impressed every day with the dedication and commitment displayed throughout DHS, and with the sincere efforts each of you makes to help improve people's lives.

Your work deserves to be celebrated, and no time could be more appropriate than Labor Day weekend for me to let you know how much I appreciate the good work you do. Our organizational names may be changing slightly, but our functions and our mission remain the same, and I thank you for your part in making that mission a reality for so many Oregonians over the years.

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