Farilyn Ballard -- Where Faith and Commitment Are Making a Difference

The Many Sides of Farilyn Ballard
As Chief Operating Officer Farilyn Ballard’s well-known serious side is often seen at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services as she diligently works long hours tackling the agency’s many challenges.

It’s a serious job, but Ballard enjoys the responsibility. She leads the daily operations of the state’s largest agency and 4,000 employees from Field Operations, Children and Family Services Division and Family Support Services Division.

Beyond Ballard’s work at OKDHS, there’s the once little girl who picked up pretty stones during vacation trips and the devoted daughter who helped nurse her mother through several bouts of cancer. There’s the caseworker who joined OKDHS more than 28 years ago who remains fascinated by human behavior. And there’s an admittedly “somewhat perfectionist” side that is determined never to give up as she pursues new ways to help individuals and families.

A devout Christian who sings in her church’s choir, Ballard prays and reads the Bible daily and volunteers. She’s a wife and mother who loves her husband, Dan Ballard, her two grown daughters and crossword puzzles. Whimsical items like Garden Divas adorn her office and she’ll readily tell you about her two dogs, Molly and Bosco.

Ballard’s Passion

But perhaps one of Ballard’s strongest passions is her work helping the state improve its systems of care for families and children with behavioral health issues. She believes Oklahoma can do a better job in providing wraparound mental health services for emotionally disturbed children. She said there are gaps in the current system and describes services as poorly funded.

“It’s a shame that some people want to put their children in state custody just so they can get the type of mental health care services needed,” Ballard said. “We need to revamp the system and offer an array of comprehensive services, whether children are in state custody or not.”

Ballard serves on the Systems of Care State Team, which includes members from various state agencies and parent advocates. She is also OKDHS Director Howard H. Hendrick’s designee on the implementation team for the Partnership for Children’s Behavioral Health – a policy-making group of state agency directors, legislators and parent representatives working to improve services for children in Oklahoma.

“We’re working on the plan now to improve behavioral health services in Oklahoma,” Ballard said. “A draft proposal is being worked on now. We’ve also had some focus groups across the state get field staff input to see what needs to be done.”

Ballard is realistic that such changes won’t happen overnight. Nevertheless, she’s determined to help push this issue forward and praises the collaboration among state agencies.

“I’ve heard so many stories from people who have struggled with mental health issues,” Ballard said “Many of our custody children are very damaged, abused and neglected. We need to have better services to meet their needs.”

The Early Years

After graduating from Midwest City High School, Ballard earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Oklahoma State University. Ruby Jones, her mother, was hospitalized with cancer the very weekend Ballard graduated from college. Her mother improved after surgery and chemotherapy. In September 1976, Ballard was hired as a caseworker serving the Oklahoma County office.

“I was very fascinated by human behavior and I guess that’s why I ended up in social work,” she said. “I wanted to be a counselor, but I’d never dealt with OKDHS. I hadn’t had a lot of enlightened or multicultural experiences. I wasn’t naïve exactly, but there was a lot I hadn’t seen.”

She said the culture of her office included many different kinds of people.

“There were a lot of young people working here and we did things together after work and shared camaraderie,” Ballard said. “It was a time of social change and times were more liberal and people embraced it. And there were new challenges. It was an interesting job.”

Ballard said her heart was particularly touched when she tried to help a client who had two adult sons who sniffed paint and suffered brain damage.

“It was really sad because they had done it to themselves,” Ballard said. “People had to learn how to leave certain things behind at work because things can seriously bother you in that type of job. Certain types of people are attracted to this type of work because they want to help people.”

Accepting Leadership

Two years later, Ballard was promoted to service intake supervisor. The following year, she and her husband had their first daughter, Keisha. When the Oklahoma County OKDHS office split into two offices, Ballard was named county program supervisor.

“I like supervision,” Ballard said. “I am still able to help people, but this time, it is the workers, instead of the clients. There’s an opportunity for a wider sphere of influence and you can affect more people. You can impact more people.”

Through the OKDHS Employee Scholarship Fund, Ballard earned her master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Oklahoma in 1983. During this time, she also gave birth to her daughter, Lucia.

“To fulfill my practicum, I worked in social work at a community mental health outpatient facility,” Ballard said. “They were big on group counseling and I would sit in on sessions. It was very interesting and enlightening.”

Upon graduation, Ballard returned to work as a county district supervisor at the newly opened Oklahoma County 55-B office in Midwest City. In 1984, she was appointed programs field representative for FSSD before being named assistant county director for Oklahoma County OKDHS 55-C in 1985.

By May 1988, Ballard was named program supervisor in Field Operations and by 1989, she was transferred in the same level to the Office of Administration. She was one of the first employees to work on the Electronic Benefits Transfer. The following year, she was named Cleveland County OKDHS county director.

“That was one of my most favorite jobs,” Ballard said. “Everyday is different as county director. By being a director in the place where you live you can have a position of great impact in your own community.

“We had a growing caseload and it was a time of great change for the state and the country. There were a lot of bright, energetic people who worked there and in the community.”

On Dec. 16, 1993, Ballard was named Area IV director.

“Becoming an area director of Southeastern Oklahoma was a little different,” she said. “I’ve always lived in the city and part of my territory was Little Dixie. I’m a city girl and it was very interesting to work in Southeastern Oklahoma and get to know some of the characters who live there.

“I met some wonderful people. It was a good job and I learned a lot about both rural and urban counties. Different parts of the state have very different cultures.”

In March 1999, she was appointed director of the Children and Family Services Division.

The ‘One Team’ Philosophy

In October 2001, she was appointed chief operating officer of Human Services Centers. She leads the directors of her three divisions. They include Linda Smith, CFSD; Jean Derry, Field Operations and Mary Stalnaker, FSSD. Ballard describes her division directors as “very capable and effective” in their positions.

“With 4,000 employees, there is always a crisis and it is my job to go beyond the crisis and make a difference,” Ballard said. “My division directors handle routine matters independently and consult with me only when they need a second opinion or when it is a particularly difficult or sensitive situation. They also consult with me on those issues about which the Director needs to be informed or if he needs to make a decision. I have monthly conferences with each of the division directors, in addition to daily contact either in person, by phone or through e-mail.”

Ballard said that when she accepted the position of COO, she considered her most important task to encourage the three divisions to see themselves as one team and to work together cooperatively to achieve OKDHS’ common mission and goals.

“There were some ‘hard’ feelings and lots of ‘us versus them’ type thinking, particularly between the field and State Office,” Ballard said. “I believe we have made tremendous progress toward that in the past three years.”

She said she also conducts monthly meetings with the Human Service Management team, which consists of the three division directors, plus the individuals who directly report to them.

“We discuss all kinds of issues related to the operations of the Human Services Center organization and make decisions jointly about how to proceed in a number of areas,” Ballard said. “Discussions may involve proposed policy, training of staff, computer systems, budget issues, coordination with other divisions, key indicators or other concerns related to implementing Child Welfare and Family Support programs. The Area directors are involved in the discussion, as well as State Office program staff, so it makes for better decisions.”

Leading Through Faith

Such commitment comes easily for Ballard, who believes her opportunity to serve OKDHS stems from a higher power.

“Although hard work is involved, I truly believe all the opportunities I have been given since working for OKDHS are through the provision of God,” she said. “God has given me the abilities I have, the opportunities to use those abilities and it is only through the power and guidance of God that I can ever do anything worthwhile.”

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