We know that 2009 will bring many challenges. Some of them are already evident: for example, the slowing economy’s impact on the state budget. We at DCJS have had to curtail spending in many areas, including, unfortunately, reducing the number of fulltime staff.
Other challenges remain to be revealed. To meet all of the challenges we’ll face in 2009 and subsequent years, we will need to have a clear understanding of our mission and priorities, and be positioned to make the fullest, most efficient use of the resources available to us, in particular the talent, expertise and commitment of our staff.
Last fall I asked the staff to help me and our senior management team prepare the agency to meet the challenges of 2009 and beyond. Together we participated in a series of workshops in which staff members were encouraged to offer their ideas and recommendations to improve our services. The following areas of focus emerged from those meetings.
- Agency unification and collaboration - streamlining technology, reorganizing agency functions and clarifying the agency’s mission and management’s philosophy.
- Communication, compatibility, and resources - sharing resources across the agency, such as temporarily assigning staff to work with other sections/agencies, relocating staff with similar functions and ensure compatibility by sharing internal databases and maintaining a central repository for resource materials.
- Knowledge and professionalism - make use of internal knowledge and expertise through training/cross-training/blogging, expanding orientation for new staff, allowing staff greater participation in agency planning, increasing staff responsibility/training to advance succession/professionalism.
- Customer service, marketing, and partnerships - advance agency relationships/partnerships with other entities, use technology to enhance customer service through website/on-line tools, systematically survey constituents on their needs/issues, work with universities to increase internship opportunities within the agency.
- Sustainability, planning and documentation - promote the value of and the products of the agency to state government, improve its planning functions and boost documentation of agency activities.
- Leadership and organization - expand staff involvement and responsibility in all agency functions, cross-train managers, and create and promote a cohesive agency mission/philosophy.
To carry out these recommendations and enhance our ability to improve and promote public safety, we are undertaking an organizational realignment. It is focused on allowing us to be better stewards of the public trust, meet federal and state mandates, and generally become more efficient and effective in meeting our goals.
We will be carrying out the realignment in concert with the relocation of our offices, now scheduled for late March. We will be moving to 1100 Bank Street, the recently refurbished Washington Building at the bottom of Capitol Square. As the time for our move approaches, we will notify all of our many customers of the details of our new address.
In the coming weeks and months, you will see changes to our Web site that will reflect the realignment and which we hope will make it easier for you to access information, services and support; and, of course, those agency staff contacts and relationships that you have come to count on and have enjoyed will continue.
As DCJS and the Commonwealth look for ways to streamline, generate quality products and retain qualified and knowledgeable staff, DCJS will continue to strive for excellence and reach out to the public safety community for their involvement. We trust this electronic newsletter will inform you of our efforts and we welcome your input.