Are you ready to expand your skills in working with clients?
Are you interested in learning more about your agency partners?
Do you want more information about the outlook of future services?

Please mark your calendars for:
The Alaskan Families Come First Conference
September 26, 27 and 28
Anchorage Alaska
Sheraton Hotel

Last month the Policy and Program Development Team had their Lean Kaizen Event. As a result this summer and fall we are implementing radical process improvements to meet the needs of our customers.

Here are some improvements we can all look forward to right away:
• Monthly manual changes
• Shorter turnaround time in implementing new and revised policies suggested by field staff
• Increased collaboration with the field and other DPA support teams to create more effective and useful policies

But the biggest improvement on the horizon, and the one thing that all our stakeholders have asked for, is ONE MANUAL.

This week the Food and Nutrition Service is sending a letter to Governor Parnell congratulating the State of Alaska for “ … achievement in obtaining both a payment error rate and a negative error rate that are below the national average…” In fact, Alaska’s payment error rate of only 2.15% placed us 9th in the nation for payment accuracy and garnered yet another SNAP High Performance Award; this one for $232,898!

Beginning in the fall of 2009 with Field Services the Division began taking a critical look at our core business practices in order to develop more efficient and effective ways of doing our work.  By this fall every section of the division will have had the opportunity to have representatives participate in the LEAN/Kaizen process that we are using to implement significant and meaningful changes in our business practices.  To better support the changes in our work processes and to gain additional efficiency, work is also in progress to find an alternative to the Eligibility Information System (EIS).

In a few short days eight of our co-workers will be retiring from the Division of Public Assistance. Collectively, they have over 210 years of state service and more than 190 years of experience with the Division of Public Assistance! Many of them have worked in a wide range of positions within DPA and each of them has strived to be a first-rate co-worker and teammate and to provide the best possible service to our clients.

Over the years they worked with DPA ,each of them as helped countless of Alaskans in need and supported the efforts of scores upon scores of co-workers and partners in sister agencies and community organizations. They have been a part of some of the most profound changes our agency has gone through over the years and all have contributed to making DPA the best agency in state government.

Please join me in thanking Beth Maiquis, Debbie Gage, Jeanette Skinner, Barbara Hollywood, Ginny Meyer, John Ellis, Connie Boquist, and Stephanie Hoyt for their dedication and service to Alaska’s most vulnerable citizens. Let’s wish them the best of luck in whatever new adventures await them.