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Director's Message
December 30, 2004
To: DHS Employees
From: Gary Weeks, Director
New Year's resolutions
It's a common practice during this season to make New Year's resolutions -- promises to ourselves for things we'd like to change or ways we would like to do things differently.
Accountability is key to our work as public servants and in focusing our efforts. With the new year approaching, we should renew our commitment to accountability and what that means in our daily work.
The public holds us to a higher standard and we should welcome those expectations and oversights and continue to learn from them, always looking for ways to improve our operations and services.
Being accountable to those we serve
What it often comes down to for me is being accountable as an individual, one-on-one, to those people we serve every day. Are we doing everything we can to help? Have we thought of creative ways to problem-solve or are making our processes more efficient and our services easier to access? And are we following the department's policies and procedures in the process?
As you know, we have started collecting stories about what we are doing to make a difference in communities and counties all over Oregon. These are real examples of how we are being accountable in our work, case by case, person by person.
Check out our Making a Difference Web site to find stories like the one below, about people who have been helped. There are also links there if you would like to contribute a story for our Public Affairs staff to follow up on.
The following is just one of many examples we are showcasing -- and what it means to be accountable in our work and to others who are in need. This particular story is told largely through the mother's words:
Helping a mother out of control
" I ran and ran and fought and fought before I wanted to change. It was hell. I thought I was going to die because I couldn't stop using."
It's a painful memory for 23-year-old Sylvia Martinez of Malheur County. Addicted to meth and in serious trouble with the law, she abandoned her five children. DHS took custody of the kids and placed them in two foster homes.
"I had a turning point when I had to visit them in the DHS office," she recalls. "Once I started getting off drugs, I started feeling real emotions -- and had to deal with them for the first time. I visited my kids and couldn't bear walking away from them. They would scream for me to come back."
On her fourth attempt, Sylvia graduated from an inpatient treatment program on Thanksgiving Day 2003 and continued to meet all drug court requirements.
"Without DHS involved in my life, I'd still be using," says Sylvia, "and I wouldn't have kept going."
"On November 25, 2004 - the day before Thanksgiving - DHS closed my case. I got full custody of my kids back. I guess that's what Thanksgiving is all about."
She says she's now grateful for one day at a time. And this young mother has learned firsthand what it means to be accountable -- to herself, her children, and her community.
I know that you rarely hear stories like this one, but it is not unique. Individuals and families throughout Oregon are better off today because of the work that you do. As we enter this new year, I ask you to recommit to the highest quality of service so that we continue to achieve outcomes like those described above.
Holiday safety
This week, the media reported that Oregon experienced the highest number of traffic fatalities ever for a Christmas holiday. Unfortunately, many of these deaths were alcohol-related. Please travel safely this coming New Year's weekend and don't endanger yourself, your family, or others by drinking and driving.
My very best wishes to you all for a safe and Happy New Year!
Food for thought
"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these."
- George Washington Carver
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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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