Increased Efficiency

In order to increase efficiency, Olmsted county initiated an electronic document management system Fall, 2013.  This was started in the Family Support Area because of the huge amount of paperwork involved.  Moving to electronic documents has increased the productivity of the FSA by an estimated 20% because there is no more paper sorting, filing, storage, etc. It has improved the efficiency and customer service to public assistance and child support clients.  On April 11, FSA reached a milestone of 1,000,000 documents scanned and stored in EDMS. This amount of paper is equivalent to 1,200 trees and would have required about 112 huge 5-drawer filing cabinets.

 

Mr. Devlin’s Retirement

Since Richard Devlin’s retirement announcement, some of his duties have been transferred to the Asst. County Administrator.  Mr. Devlin will be working on several projects before he leaves office.  As a personal note, I have appreciated Mr. Devlin’s words and wisdom.  He has provided a great service to Olmsted County.

 

Measles Outbreak Being Monitored

The Olmsted County Public Health department is monitoring the measles outbreak in Minneapolis.

 

Human Services Budgets May Face Drastic Cuts

Emily Piper, Minnesota Commissioner of the Department of Human Services, has warning both the Association of Minnesota Counties and the Minnesota Intercounty Association of the possibility of significant cuts in Human Services.  At this time, funding for child protection and foster care services have not been included in funding bills.  Emily Piper invites people to “clearly communicate with House and Senate leadership, human services finance committee chairs, and conference committee members about the provisions in the House and Senate omnibus bill that destabilize the human service system.”  For more information you can contact Emily Piper, Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Human Services, Elmer L. Andersen Building, P.O.B. 64998, St. Paul, Minnesota  55164-0998.