Manager brings change to DCF

Manager brings change to DCF
The agency's new chief will oversee the launch of a division that
helps enroll people for Medicaid, food stamps and cash assistance.
By COLLEEN JENKINS, Times Staff Writer
Published May 2, 2004

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INVERNESS - Talk about getting thrown into the fire.

Since becoming the new Citrus County manager for the Department of
Children and Families, Lisa Mayrose has overseen a major review of
child welfare records, a significant shift of employees to another
agency and the formulation of a plan to modernize DCF's efforts to
help people reach economic self-sufficiency.

All during her first month on the job.

During a rare pause last week, Mayrose showed no signs of weariness -
or of slowing down.

Instead, she spoke enthusiastically about what is ahead for the
agency.

Deciding where to start isn't easy. Change is in motion on every level
within DCF. Since Don Thomas became the new administrator in DCF
District 13, which includes Citrus, Hernando, Marion, Sumter and Lake,
he has shuffled the top officials in several counties.

Virgilio Ramos-Cosme moved from the top spot in Citrus to become head
of the large economic self-sufficiency unit in Marion County.

In replacing him, Mayrose returns from District 13's Wildwood
headquarters to Inverness, the office where she worked a couple of
years ago as a protective services supervisor.

Those aren't the only administrative changes. As part of a statewide
push to increase efficiency and cut bureaucracy, DCF districts are
joining forces as "zones." District 13 has united with two other
districts, with which it will share finance, human resources and
contracting departments.

Thomas also is the zone administrator.

These structural differences, however, mean more inside agency walls
than outside. For the people DCF serves, the shift to privatized child
welfare services is likely to have a greater effect.

At the direction of the Legislature, DCF throughout Florida is
shedding many of its duties. In February 2003, Children and Families
announced that a group called Kids Central Inc. would be the lead
agency charged with taking over DCF's child welfare services in
Citrus.

Now, more than a year later, the transition to what is called
"community-based care" is in full swing here. On April 23, after
making sure all records were in order, the department handed more than
300 foster care and protective services cases to Kids Central, which
is a consortium of six care providers from this area.

The change is a bit less drastic than it sounds. Though these cases
now will be handled by the Centers, the county's community mental
health agency and one of the partners in Kid Central, many of the
caseworkers are former DCF employees.

They simply have moved to a new wing of the pink and green DCF
building on U.S. 41 N, still close to the DCF protective investigators
who will work on many of the same child abuse and neglect cases. DCF
also will monitor the Kid Central contract and check on the new
agency's performance.

Mayrose said the first week of the transition went smoothly.

"We're looking forward to working with the Centers, making sure we're
communicating and responding to the needs of our clients," she said.

The Citrus County Sheriff's Office had hoped the Legislature would
provide enough money for it to take over another part of DCF's duties:
investigating complaints of child abuse, neglect and abandonment. But
that didn't happen this year, so DCF will continue handling that part
of the social services network.

Taking adoptions, foster care and child welfare off her plate doesn't
mean Mayrose has time to sit back. She's preparing to launch a
restructured economic self-sufficiency division, the unit that helps
enroll people for Medicaid, food stamps and cash assistance.

On May 17, clients can expect to see a streamlined version of the
current program. Instead of spending hours getting their paperwork in
order, clients will be shepherded through the process in minutes.

They will walk into a refurbished waiting area, meet with an intake
worker and then send their paperwork to employees who review their
files and enter their personal information in the computer system.

Informing the department of personal changes also will be simplified
with the addition of new telephones and a drop box in the lobby and a
new email address and toll-free number. The idea, Mayrose said, is to
"make life easier for clients but also speeds up the process in the
trenches."

Meantime, DCF county offices across Florida continue their push to
reduce the backlog of investigations of child abuse and neglect
complaints. Last week, Citrus had only 22 left.

Wading through the changes could send anyone into a tailspin. But
Mayrose, who has lived in Citrus for a decade, said the 75 local DCF
workers have worked extra hard to keep the office among the top in the
district.

"The staff here have just been amazing," she said. "They are so
focused on getting the job done."
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/05/02/Ci...s_change.shtml
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