DPAweb

Click here for the DHSS Human Resources Contact List (this list has been added to the Human Resouces menu at right)

The Human Resource Integration has transpired. The Department of Health and Social Services has a Management Consultant Services Team and a Technical Services Center assigned to the department. The Juneau offices are located on the 1st floor of the Alaska Office Building, the Anchorage Technical Service Center is located on the 5th floor of the Frontier Building, and the Anchorage Management Consultant Services Team will be located in the Atwood Building the week of November 10th. Attached a list of employees and the functions they perform, in order to assist you in finding the service that you need. There will be changes as the integration is further defined; we appreciate you working with us as these changes occur.

Here are three short tutorials for how to use the DPA Project Management Website. They are viewed using Windows Media Player. Please let us know if you have trouble viewing the tutorials.

If the tutorials appear small or fuzzy, try enlarging the Windows media player screen as large as it will go. It should take up most of your screen to be viewed properly.

The Department has a new policy concerning media contacts.

All press inquiries should be forwarded through the Commissioner's new Special Assistant Sherry Hill at 465-1618. Sherry works out of the Juneau Commissioner's office.

People who surf the 'net to find information about their state's welfare program and other social benefits may find themselves adrift in confusing Web sites that don't always deliver.

All 50 states use Web and Internet technologies to provide basic information about state welfare, unemployment and other social safety net programs, but only a few states, such as Pennsylvania and Washington, provide "one-stop shopping" that connects citizens to everything for which they may qualify.

The new Kenai Home Depot is seeking workers to fill the 130 or so positions that will be needed when the doors open for the first time this winter.

The store's grand opening is set for Dec. 18, and store manager Terry Rahlfs said the new home improvement retail center is working to be fully staffed by then.

Alaska's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program in the Dept. of Health & Social Services, Div. of Public Assistance was notified recently that they were awarded performance achievement bonuses totaling $6.36 million. Alaska received $3.18 million for FY 01, the maximum bonus allowed for ranking first in the nation in the "job entry" category -- the percent of people placed in jobs. Alaska also received $3.18 million for FY 02 for successful performance in job entry, success in the workforce, and Medicaid enrollment

Alaska receives bonus of $3,180,454

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced the awarding of $200 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) bonuses to 41 states and the District of Columbia for success in employment and other program achievements during fiscal year 2001.

"TANF has been a tremendous success because of its central focus on helping families find and succeed at work so they can leave welfare dependency behind. I am pleased to award these bonuses for TANF program achievement," Secretary Thompson said. "While TANF has been very successful, we can do even better. Reauthorization of TANF needs to be completed quickly so states can build even stronger programs that help even more families."

The Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District Inc. has completed an analysis of the Peninsula's work force development and an action plan that identifies private-sector needs and job opportunities, the group said. The report concludes that trainers/educators and employers have not communicated well enough on how they can help each other.

The industries expected to grow most include health services; food, beverage and hospitality services; human services; construction and maintenance; information technology and transportation services, the report said.

The purpose of the LSIS program is to increase public confidence in assistance programs, reduce fraud that stigmatizes those who participate in such programs, deter fraud, and prevent duplicate participation. Finger imaging policy currently applies to applicants and recipients of food stamps and TANF. LSIS prevents duplicate participation by comparing the electronic finger images that are on file in the LSIS database and detecting any finger imaging matches. Potential applicants for assistance are informed about finger imaging requirements prior to application.

"When I first heard about the layoffs, I figured I might not be affected," said Diana Forslund, one of the 65 Agrium employees who lost their jobs in June. "But I prepared myself just in case."

What she decided to do was return to school using a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor's Workforce Investment Act to study to be a radiological technologist. Forslund said she learned about the grant when she met with state labor counselors at the Kenai Job Center.