Human Services Commission Approves High Performance Bonus Plan for Employees

OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- Oklahoma Department of Human Services Director Howard H. Hendrick issued the text of the letter below to all OKDHS employees today following approval by the Oklahoma Commission for Human Services for the use of high-performance bonus funds earned from the federal government by OKDHS.  The employee bonus payment action will take the OKDHS Finance Division approximately 10 to 15 working days to complete. 

 "A Message from Director Howard H. Hendrick"Oct. 26, 2004

I think you know this. But, you are doing an awesome job!!!

Today, the Oklahoma Commission for Human Service approved my recommendation to recognize your performance with more than words of encouragement and gratefulness.  The Human Services Commission approved the payment to every permanent and probationary employee of OKDHS a one-time bonus of $1,000 from the High Performance Bonus funds for your exceptional work and performance.

This bonus will be funded entirely with federal funds because last month, the Federal Government announced several high performance bonus awards for our work at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. We have earned awards like this before.  But, never like this year.

We earned the following high performance bonuses:

• $2,921,548 from USDA – Food and Nutrition Services for FFY 2003:
  • Program Outreach for record increases in food stamp participation.
  • Timely Processing of Food Stamp Applications.
• $1,062,000 from HHS – Administration for Children and Families for FFY 2003 increases in finalized adoptions.
• $3,030,247 from HHS – Administration for Children and Families for FFY 2003 for TANF for:
  • $1,723,654 for Success in the Workforce due to improvements over FFY 2002 in improved amounts of wages for TANF recipients and longer lengths of employment after leaving TANF.
  • $1,306,593 for Improved Family Formation and Stability due to improvements over FFY 2002 in the percentage of children being reared in two parent families.

We have never received any bonus funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the food stamp program.  The bonus for adoptions is among the largest we have ever received for Oklahoma’s adoptions program. And to top it off, we had another outstanding year in the TANF program.

Although no funding was received for other distinguished levels of performance, you should know:

• Child Support collections reached a record $166 million dollars ($40 million more than four years ago).
• Monthly Average Food Stamp Participation for SFY 2004 was 11 percent HIGHER than the RECORD Monthly Average Food Stamp Participation for FFY 2003 for which the Federal High Performance BONUS award was received.
• Two Star Child Care Centers increased by 35 percent over SFY 2003, our previous record high.
• Monthly Average Medicaid Certifications for SFY 2004 were 517,289, an all-time high, and 6.13 percent higher than SFY 2003, our previous record high.
• Three Star Child Care Centers increased by 35 percent over SFY 2003, our previous record high.
• DDSD served a record 4,267 persons in their community services waiver in June 2004, an increase of 6.3 percent over its previous record in June 2002.
• A record 7,341 children were receiving an adoption subsidy in June, 2004, an increase of 6.5 percent over the previous record in June, 2003, and an increase of 61.3 percent over four years ago.
• A record 75,246 Aging, Disabled or Blind Oklahomans were certified for our ABD program, a 1.8 percent increase over the previous SFY 2003 record.
• A near record 13,988 seniors were certified for the Advantage Waiver program (only 310 less than the previous record).
  Record numbers of referrals were handled for child welfare.
  Record numbers of referrals were handled for Adult Protective Services.
• Record levels of paternity establishment in our Child Support Enforcement Program (over 95 percent of the out of wedlock births had paternity established).

Every division in this agency, including our support divisions, is performing at record levels And, our families are starting to see the kinds of improvements we have wanted for some time.  One exciting statistic that led to our receipt of part of the performance bonus was an improvement in the percentage of Oklahoma children being reared in two parent households.  While the national average was dropping, we improved from slightly below the national average to slightly above the national average.  Improving family life is a core belief.  Specifically, we believe that stronger families grow brighter futures.  All of our programs are contributing to stronger families and the brighter future we believe comes from these stronger families.

You are making it happen!

Thank you for your continued hard work, your resourcefulness and your incredible resilience during these challenging times. I am proud of the great job each of you is doing.

Warm regards,
Howard H. Hendrick,
Director of Human Services

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