April 9, 2014 Page |1 Community Human Services Department CHS Connection Inside this Issue What’s Happening .................... 2-3 Helping Our Clients ..................... 4 Celebrating Our Staff ................. 5-6 This, That & Other Things ......... 6-7 Request for Donated Time Temporary Change in Contact When an employee is in need of Sick Leave, a request can be made to receive donated vacation time from fellow CHS employees. The process is simple: Before using donated time, the employee must exhaust all sick and vacation time (although the “request” can be made prior to this). The employee, their supervisor, or a co-worker can make a request. The request must be in writing (preferably by email) to Jaime LaVigne, 9200 East Bldg. Human Resources will check for employee’s eligibility and to make sure it won’t interfere with shortterm disability, etc. Following HR approval, an email with instructions and forms will be sent by Jaime to all CHS staff. If you have questions, call Human Resources at 6-4064 or 6-4065. from the Director This is my first of probably many opportunities to share some thoughts in the Connection. I am looking forward to the opportunity to communicate with everyone through this prime publication! I would be remiss if I started off in any other way than to thank Bev Anderson for her work in making the Connection such a high quality and useful tool for all of us. Bev took on the publishing of our newsletter several years ago now and raised it up from an informative but plain-text email notification to a beautiful and colorful, professional-looking product that would rival the corporate newsletter of any Fortune 500 company. As Bev rides off into the sunset of retirement, we thank her for giving us such a great way of “making connections!” Just as there are happy endings, there are new beginnings. I’m very honored and excited to be starting to serve in this new role of Director of CHS. While I am focused on helping us chart a steady course through all the changes happening right now, it doesn’t mean that everything we do has to stay status quo forever. As I mentioned in the all-staff email sent earlier in the week, I don’t come into this job with a massive change agenda, but I am open to your suggestions on ways we can make things even better than they are now. I welcome your thoughts, ideas, and feedback at any time. Let me know what you are thinking. One of the most frequent comments and questions I’ve had from staff since I started my new position is whether our Anti-Racism Initiative will continue. The short answer to this question is: YES!!! While our work has primarily and will continue to primarily focus on race equity work, it has expanded to – importantly – include all forms of oppression resulting in poor access or outcomes. I want to reassure you that this work will continue at full force. We need everyone pulling together to continue the progress we are making. If you have other questions or want to offer comments as I have invited above, feel free to call or email me at 6-4417 or [email protected]. Thanks! - Meghan Mohs Our Mission: “Making a Difference: Helping People Survive and Thrive” Page |2 What’s Happening? Recovery Day on the Hill Organized by the Minnesota Recovery Connection (MRC) and the Recovery Works! Committee, a “Recovery Day on the Hill” rally at the State Capitol Rotunda was held on Tuesday, March 11, 2014. Armed with the simple message that “Recovery Works,” advocates came to meet with other supporters of recovery and to speak to legislators about they can help to ensure that more people in Minnesota get the recovery support they need. Individuals in recovery were joined by family members, friends, employers and professionals in the field of preventing and treating substance use disorders in the effort to rally the recovery community to show that recovery from addiction is not only possible, but that people from all walks of life can and do recover from substance use disorders. Recovery Day on the Hill is an annual event that is well attended by supporters and several legislators. Part of the event is devoted to raising the profile of issues and also specific bills that have been introduced for legislation, upon which the organized recovery community has taken a position. For more information about this year’s event, as well as the legislative efforts being supported by the recovery community, please see the March 12, 2014 article in MinnPost by Sarah T. Williams, click this link: Recovery Day on the Hill: Claiming Their Due as Citizens and Loved Ones. Submitted by Kurt Koehler “Getting the Message Out on How to Help Youth and Their Families in Crisis” Ramsey County Human Services Children’s Crisis Response is a member of Metro Children’s Crisis Response Services (MetrCCS), a collaborative of the seven metro county mobile mental health crisis teams working to provide immediate service to families with youth with mental health crisis. MetrCCS has partnered with ECHO Minnesota, a leader in multi-language health, safety, civic engagement, and emergency readiness communication, to produce a series of short videos on mental health in young children and teenagers. These videos provide concrete information about where and how to get help. Each video is produced in English, Spanish, Hmong, Somali, Karen, Russian, Swahili, and French. The videos will be broadcasted on Twin Cities Public Television (tpt-MN) on Monday, April 21, 2014 at 8:00 and are available online at www.echominnesota.org and www.youtube.com/ECHOMinnesota. Submitted by Linda Hall Page |3 MNsure Passes an Important Milestone! Congratulations to everyone in Financial Assistance Services for making open enrollment a huge success in Ramsey County. Over 17,500 Ramsey County residents, previously without health insurance, have enrolled in medical assistance since October 1, 2013. Thank you and job well done! In recognition of all the hard work county financial workers and support staff did during the health insurance open enrollment period, Department of Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson sent a thank you acknowledging everyone’s contributions in making the enrollment period a huge success in Minnesota. A copy of her message is below. Submitted by Tina Curry To: From: Date: Subject: County Human Services Directors DHS Commissioner Lucinda Jesson April 3, 2014 Thank You! On Tuesday MNsure passed an important milestone as it announced enrollment of over 169,000 people in health insurance by the end of open enrollment. More than 121,000 of these Minnesotans enrolled in one of our public programs, exceeding the overall forecasted enrollment numbers for the end of March. As we know better than just about anyone, this is just the start of the journey toward a seamless, integrated human services system. It has been a bumpy ride and there is much, much more work to be done. But we should pause and acknowledge the substantial progress and the hard work that got us here. I started calling people to thank them for their dedication and hard work. Then I realized that if I called or personally thanked everyone who contributed I would have to block off the next entire month, if not the summer. Staff at all levels in DHS and technology staff at MN.IT were with us day in and day out. Our partners in the counties have been just as steadfast as they helped clients apply for health care coverage, made sure their staff were able to complete the required on-line training necessary to access MNsure client information, collaborated with local navigators to ensure that applicants could access help as needed, and worked closely with DHS as members of the County Roles and Responsibilities workgroup to address issues. I hope to personally thank as many of you as possible, but in the meantime please accept this note as an initial thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We know challenges remain. And those challenges are not small. But together we will succeed in building a system which better serves our clients and our state. Helping Our Clients Page |4 Omnitheater Tickets Complimentary Omnitheater tickets are available for clients. Tickets include admission to the Science Museum and a SPECIAL Omnitheater screening. The next show is scheduled for Thursday, April 24, 2014 at 6:00 p.m. Now Showing – Dinosaurs Alive! In Dinosaurs Alive! Tarbosaurus (a close relative to T. rex), Velociraptor, Protoceratops, and Seismosaurus all make a big impact on the Omnitheater’s giant screen. Thanks to amazingly realistic computer animation, you’ll see how they may have moved, hear what they may have sounded like, and witness how they behaved when they roamed the Earth millions of years ago. From New Mexico to Mongolia, Dinosaurs Alive! is a globetrotting adventure with scientists who have revolutionized our understanding of the mysterious creatures that dominated the earth for 150 million years. Email Volunteer Services at [email protected] on or before Thursday, April 17th to request tickets for your clients. Please order tickets only after talking to your clients. Page |5 Celebrating Our Staff Meet our new colleagues. Thank you for joining Human Services! Kau Queeglay Start Date: March 20, 2014 Unit or Program Area: Adult Services Case Management Previous Experience: 4+ years in mental health and social services Interests/Hobbies: Reading, traveling, running and spending time with family and friends. Jayne Lijoodi Start Date: March 28, 2014 Unit or Program Area: Adult Protection Previous Experience: My background entails working with adults that were formally homeless and had a history of substance abuse. I have also extensively worked with adults with MI/CD challenges. Interests/Hobbies: I enjoy playing tennis, traveling, and reading. Recognition for Years of Service! Barbara Ek-Froehle Debbra Dekarske Ida Njee Gaoee Thao Vang Chang Alicia Farrington Luke Yang 35 years 30 years 30 years 15 years 10 years 10 years 10 years Yasmin Algosaibi Judith Fischer Aurora Johnston Sarah Lee Carlton Linton Nue Xiong Rising Alumni Recognized The U of M Center for Education and Human Development (CEHD) Alumni Society recently recognized twenty-three rising alumni from across the college who have achieved early distinction in their careers, demonstrated emerging leadership, or shown exceptional volunteer service in their communities. This is the second year of the Rising Alumni Initiative. One of those rising alumni recognized, Sophia Thompson is one of our very own. http://www.cehd.umn.edu/alumni/rising/2014/Thompson.html 5 years 5 years 5 years 5 years 5 years 5 years Page |6 Bev Anderson – Making Headlines It’s perhaps one of the longest running feel good stories at CHS! It’s been front page news for five years. This story has encompassed every division, showed our successes, featured good people and tickled our funny bone. The heroine in this story? Well, this headline maker is also the editor of the CHS Connection. And she may just be one of the most reliable, creative people you’ll meet. It’s Bev Anderson, Administrative Assistant IV to CHS Director Monty Martin for the past 12 years and for 6 years prior to that, Monty’s predecessor Tom Fashingbauer. Since 2009, Bev has edited this newsletter; literally she’s the headline maker. So it seems right that Bev should be the headline before she retires on April 10th. (We bartered for some extra space to showcase her with a bit of a feature story.) Here it is. Bev has not only been the creative and artistic force behind CHS News – now CHS Connection. As noted, hers has been a significant role in serving CHS directors. She has also been part of the CHS Management Team; at the center of the decisions and initiatives that affect all of us. It takes a steadiness and reliability to do that. And for those of us that know Bev, that reliability has been honed and achieved. It’s the result of 35 years serving Ramsey County. Bev spent 16 years working in the Ramsey County Juvenile, Probate and Family Court Systems. And then for the past almost 19 years, Bev has worked in Human Services. With quiet competence and an eye for detail and hard work, Bev has seen a lot in her years at CHS. Some highlights for her are the transition to our EBT system, the welfare reform work, navigating challenging budget years, assisting division directors, putting together this newsletter, and being a “field reporter” in one of the All Staff videos. But overall, Bev credits the people at CHS as what she will miss the most. She will miss your professionalism. And her immediate coworkers will be especially missed because they had become a family within the larger CHS community. So….what’s the next headline going to read? It’s this: Bev and Fiancé Jimmy to Marry in October!! Congratulations! They are also planning for a new winter home in Arizona. Now that’s the kind of feel good story Bev has been reporting all these years. Thank you, Bev, for pouring your creative energy into this newsletter and the mission of Human Services. Your presence is described in the 4th Value of our CHS Values Statement: “Optimism…approaching our work with a positive, can-do attitude, believing that our work makes a difference to the people we serve.” It does! You have! Happy Retirement!!! Submitted by Rick Cunningham Page |7 This, That & Other Things From the Editor This is my final edition of the CHS Connection. It has been a pleasure being your editor/publisher. It was a fun and creative part of my job. I would like to say ‘thank you’ to all who have contributed in some way to make it an interesting and informative newsletter, and for keeping us all connected. Until a replacement can be found for my position, Sue Sutter has volunteered to take on the CHS Connection editor role. So keep those articles coming! In the mean time, on the next page, I’d like to leave you with one of my favorite inspirational pieces entitled Attitude. Thank you, for …making my retirement gathering such great fun, …your cards, emails and conversations wishing me well, …your personal support during my years in CHS, …making CHS such a fun and rewarding place to work, …and making such an incredible difference in our community! This is a special place with many, many special people! Monty Martin ~ Bev Anderson Leadership Feedback Process (LFP) Information Sessions for Staff If you are new to the 360 feedback process for our formal leaders (LFP) or want a refresher, please register for any of the following discussions. These 45 minute sessions are intended to help all staff better understand the purposes of the LFP, how it works, and how to most effectively provide feedback. Information like this is also provided whenever you are invited to complete a LFP survey. These discussions simply provide an additional opportunity and format to get information as well as have your questions answered. (Rick Cunningham is also available to come to unit meetings to provide this information.) Thursday, May 8, 2014, 2:00-2:45, Room 7600 The deadline for the next CHS Connection is Friday, April 18th. Thursday, May 22, 2014, 9:00-9:45, Room 7600 Wednesday, June 18, 2014, 10:30-11:15, Room 7600 Page |8 Attitude The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company…a church…a home. The remarkable thing is, we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes. ~ Charles Swindoll
© Copyright 2024 ExpyDoc
