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Thank you to all of you who participated in the recruitment process to select the new Office of Developmental Disabilities Services (ODDS) Director. As Anna Lansky shared earlier today, she was offered the position but decided to accept another opportunity. Anna’s last day with the Oregon Department of Human Services will be Friday, March 15.
Anna has been serving as interim director of ODDS since November 2022 and successfully led ODDS through the 2023 long legislative session and the short 2024 legislation session that will end soon. With her deep expertise in policies and systems, and genuine commitment to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), she has successfully navigated changes and challenges, to ensure the best outcomes for people with I/DD. I appreciate everything Anna has done on behalf of those we serve. We were fortunate to have Anna lead ODDS for the past 14 months; we wish her well in this exciting new step in her career.
Oregon traditionally has been a national leader in serving adults and young people with disabilities, with a focus on dignity and independence. As we look to the future, I see many opportunities to build on that success and develop more innovative, collaborative and wholistic ways to serve people. We need to continue to break down siloes within and outside ODHS, and work together to focus on the whole well-being of people, families and communities, with equity at the forefront.
We heard insightful comments and feedback during the ODDS director recruitment. You shared your perspective about our strengths as well as the changes and improvements you want to see in ODDS and ODHS. We heard from people with lived experience, advocates, providers and community-based organizations the need to listen to the different perspectives in the community and be responsive by working alongside them to develop new initiatives and services for people with I/DD. Internally, we also heard the desire for leadership to listen and collaboratively tackle challenges affecting our staff, providers and labor partners, and to be open to new ways of working across ODHS and with state and local governments.
I want to assure you that we heard you and will be responsive to your suggestions and feedback as we chart the future course for ODDS. We are committed to a collaborative process as we consider improvements to the program and as we start a new recruitment for a leader.
In the meantime, I am pleased to announce that Dana Hittle will serve as the interim ODDS director after Anna’s departure. Dana rejoined ODHS this fall after serving as Medicaid director at the Oregon Health Authority. Before joining OHA in 2013, she served in several Medicaid-related roles at ODHS, including policy analyst positions for APD and ODDS, and assistant estate administrator at the Estate Administration Unit in the Office of Payment Accuracy and Recovery (OPAR).
Dana has deep expertise in Medicaid and working across systems to serve individuals and families. She also has a strong ability to bring people and organizations together to listen, collaborate and improve systems. I have asked Dana to engage with ODDS staff, providers, clients and partners to take a deep look at the strengths, challenges and opportunities for the I/DD system and begin to develop a path for the future. Dana has already informed me that she will not be a candidate for the ODDS Director position.
I want to express my deepest gratitude to Anna for her years of dedicated service and leadership.
I look forward to working with Dana and all of you in the coming months.
Fariborz Pakseresht (he/him)
Director, Oregon Department of Human Services
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