Friday Focus – Flexible Workspaces During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has quickly and radically changed the way we work at BCDSS. Creativity and flexibility have been essential to providing staff with the resources they need to continue safely serving adults, children and families. Since their transition from 1223 Pratt St. to 1510 Guilford Ave. on January 8th, the Adult Services team has adopted a "hoteling" work space model to allow their staff a flexible option to safely access office resources while teleworking and serving seniors and vulnerable adults in the community. Adult Services Program Manager, Jarvis Turner, sat down for a Q&A to offer insight into how the Adult Services team has successfully adapted this new model during COVID-19.

Q: What is the hoteling model?

Jarvis: Hoteling is a way to eliminate assigned seating in a workspace. For Adult Services, when we moved from Pratt St. to Guilford Ave., we were looking at really innovative ways to have enough space to accommodate all our staff. One of the things we looked at was the opportunity for our Family Support Workers who have about 85% of their job function in the community to have a designated area where they can access a phone, computer, office supplies, and access to printing and faxing. That was the primary focus for this model.

Q: How has the implementation of this model been working?

Jarvis: I think staff enjoy it. I see staff coming and going and doing what they need to do with no issues. They have iPads they are utilizing along with CJAMS, but they can connect to the network and accomplish other tasks such as printing documents for our customers in this hoteling work space. We also have additional space allotted for when more staff return to work or if we have a peak of employees coming into the building more frequently.

Q: How easy was the reconfiguration of the current 1510 Guilford workspace to the new hoteling model? Jarvis: The great thing about being at Guilford is that they already had work spaces carved out that look like individual work stations. There's an area where there are 10 work stations that were already present. So we didn't have to do anything but bring equipment and supplies.  Q: How do sanitation procedures work? Jarvis: The agency has a cleaning crew that comes in and deep cleans the spaces routinely, but we also are very sure that our staff have access to wipes, cleaning supplies, and any PPE they need to practice the proper precautions while they are in the building. So on top of us having people cleaning routinely, we have items that we utilize as well to make sure that our spaces are disinfected.  Q: Are there any other benefits you would like to mention regarding the hoteling model? Jarvis: Hoteling or shared work spaces creates a space for greater mobility, productivity, and flexibility. It really gives us the opportunity to network and approach work differently each day. For instance, you have the opportunity to network with someone who isn't in your regular assigned work area and collaborate differently with different people. Also, hoteling works for the sake of optimizing our agency's space usage and becoming more accommodating to staff who may not need a stationary office space. For staff who don't need to be in the office all day, every day, it gives them the opportunity to come into the office, do what they need to do, and then really focus on the primary goal of serving our customers.  Thank you to Jarvis Turner for sharing information regarding the hoteling model with us!

Stronger community partnerships and leadership at all levels of child welfare are crucial to promoting family and community well-being to prevent child abuse. The Children's Bureau has released a two-episode podcast featuring an in-depth discussion of child welfare best practices with national leaders such as Casey Family Programs, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Prevent Child Abuse America, to discuss the following topics:

• How implementing the Children Bureau's Thriving Families, Safer Children effort mirrors a public health approach
• What national organizations learned from listening to families and those with lived experience in the child welfare system
• How the coronavirus pandemic increased the urgency for change

Click the image below to listen to the podcast.

This week's Staff Spotlight goes to Renee Robinson from Harborview! The following statement was sent on behalf of Renee from staff at the Harborview FIA Center:

"Ms. Renee Robinson was selected as a staff member who should be recognized for her mild and meek manner. She is dependable and dedicated to serve our most vulnerable customers. In this regard, she shows our WE CARE value of “Welcoming”. The tasks she is assigned are completed on time and correctly. She does not complain when we need to move her from one assignment to complete another assignment. She has a good work ethic and is truly a pleasure to work with."

Many thanks to Harborview for their submission! To nominate a staff person you admire for a future Staff Spotlight, please send an email to bcdss.communications@maryland.gov.

*Correction from last week: Shelena Sanderson from the Permanency Unit was our featured Staff Spotlight.

Welcome New BCDSS Employees!

We are pleased to welcome the following new employees to our BCDSS team! We look forward to working with you as we work together to serve vulnerable adults, children and families in Baltimore City.

CJAMS Circles: Maryland Family Risk Assessment

Join the Office of Learning every Thursday at 1 p.m. for CJAMS Circles! The topic for April 22nd will be "Maryland Family Risk Assessment". Staff will receive credit for participating in the training. Check out the flyer below for more details, and click here to register for your next session.

"I am lighthouse rather than lifeboat. I do not rescue, but instead help others to find their way to shore, guiding them by my example."

Modern Affirmation

Brandi Stocksdale
Director

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