 June 23, 2022
Dear DHSS Employees,
It’s hard to believe, but we're in the last full week of operations for the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS). As excited as we are (and we ARE!) about the department split and the opportunities that come with it, it also feels bittersweet closing the chapter on DHSS.
We understand that for many of us, this is an important time to reflect as we recognize and honor the amazing work done by this department (and all of you) through the decades. There may be some sadness as our team – our work family – is being split to allow us to support vulnerable Alaskans even more effectively.
If the last couple years have proven anything, it’s that we’re able to handle whatever gets thrown at us. We’re very proud of how resilient we are and the work we’ve done through a global pandemic and cyberattack. Your dedication to your work and the department’s mission justify the trust Alaskans have in the department. We’re confident Alaskans will continue to find that same dedication and trust in both DFCS and DOH starting at 12:01 a.m. on July 1.
We know change is hard, even good change. We also know this reorganization is asking you to adapt to more change during a time when there has already been a great deal of change due to the pandemic. We want to acknowledge that and thank you. We’ve put a lot of effort into ensuring this split is successful. However, it’s also important to know nothing is set in stone. We know even our best laid plans for how this will come together may need to be tweaked after we’ve worked in the new departments long enough to settle in. We look forward to getting to that stage and appreciate your assistance and grace as we experience the inevitable hiccups. It's only been three months since this was a certainty and there was (and is) a lot to do.
Once you take time to reminisce, we hope you join us in our excitement. We all have a very rare opportunity to help build something new in state government. (The last new state department in Alaska was the Department of Corrections; created in 1984 via an executive order that split it from DHSS. How’s that for full circle!) We will all be able to say we were part of the first cohort of employees at the Department of Family and Community Services or the Department of Health.
We appreciate your hard work and patience as we continue to work through all the needed changes to become two departments. If you have questions or concerns, please email us at dhssreorg@alaska.gov.
Thanks for all you do and please take time this week to honor this historic time before we officially become two new departments.
Marian Sweet, Assistant Commissioner,
Department of Family and Community Services
Sylvan Robb, Assistant Commissioner,
Department of Health
This week we're very pleased to announce the Department Technology Officer for DFCS will be Keith Lewis. Congratulations to Keith!
Other positions continue to move through classifications with speed so there will be more positions posted in this newsletter in the near future.
We will be posting our two new department logos soon on the reorganization webpage and will start using them on July 1 after the split is official. We will also be posting them internally on our Intranet site so you can download them yourself if you are an employee of one of the two departments. We will provide the direct link to the downloadable logos in the next newsletter. If you are creating something and need the logo sooner, please email Publications Specialist Glenn Harvey at glenn.harvey@alaska.gov to obtain logo files.
Above is the new logo for the Alaska Department of Health. Please do not use until July 1, 2022. The idea for this logo came from Commissioner Crum. He liked the idea of recognizing Alaska’s unique history of delivering health care via dog team. It shows that with teamwork, hard work and community, we can take care of each other across the vast geographical size of our great state.
Above is the new logo for the Alaska Department of Family and Community Services. Please do not use until July 1, 2022. This logo was chosen by leadership to represent families and communities working together and the diversity of Alaskans who live in our state.
NOTE: The colors and their arrangement in the circle have been adjusted slightly from the original version shared in an earlier newsletter. Please use this updated version instead.
Stakeholder Outreach: As we shared last week, we’ve been continuing stakeholder outreach. Next week we’ll dial the outreach up several notches and issue a press release about the department split on June 29.
Website Update: On and after June 27, the current home webpage of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services will point to the DHSS Reorganization home webpage All pages that belong to divisions within the Department of Health (Public Health, Public Assistance, Behavioral Health, Heath Care Services and Senior and Disabilities Services) will become part of the DOH website, health.alaska.gov. Pages belonging to divisions within the Department of Family and Community Services (Juvenile Justice, Alaska Psychiatric Institute, Alaska Pioneer Homes and Office of Children's Services) will become part of the DFCS website, dfcs.alaska.gov.If you experience any difficulties after June 27, please email hsswebmaster@alaska.gov.
New Letterhead Templates: The Public Information Team has updated letterhead with the new department names. Those updated templates are available on the Office Template Library via the Intranet. To open or download them, you will need to right click on the template name. If you have any questions or edits for those templates, please email Publication Specialist Debbie McDonald at debbie.mcdonald@alaska.gov.
|
DHSS has many boards, commissions and councils that operate independently but are affiliated with and supported by the department. We've received several questions about which department will house various DHSS boards, commissions and councils after the split. Here is the list of the current boards and which department they will be affiliated with after July 1.
Alaska Department of Health
Alaska Department of Family and Community Services
NOTE: Some boards, while budgetarily housed in one department, will still have interactions with the other department. For example, the Alaska Commission of Aging, while housed within DOH, will still interact with the Alaska Pioneer Homes (DFCS) as it does today.
Q) Who do I call after the split if something is not working?
In July, if there is a global problem that’s impacting a large group we will send an email alerting you and let you know the timeline for resolving it. If you are experiencing trouble that seems related to the department split and localized to just you, here are the people to contact for assistance:
|
