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SECTION 2
Organizational Vision and Goals

IN CONSULTATION with its Western Washington and Central and Eastern Washington Advisory Committees, OFCO in October 1997 developed the following vision statement. This statement formed the basis for establishing specific organizational goals and strategies.

By the Year 2000, the Office of the Family and Children's Ombudsman (OFCO)
will be seen as an effective, accessible and credible organization by diverse communities statewide and by agency officials and state policy makers who respond to OFCO's findings and recommendations.

Goals for 1998-99

OFCO established four goals with accompanying strategies to help it realize its vision statement. A brief description of these goals and strategies, and OFCO’s efforts toward accomplishing them, follows.

GOAL #1: Establish internal operations and external activities that support OFCO's commitment to being responsive to clients' needs and to performing its work effectively and efficiently.

Significant effort has been directed toward accomplishing this goal. Activities to date include:

STRATEGIES

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Customer Service

  • Establish the expectation and carefully train staff to be highly attentive and responsive to clients' needs and concerns.
  • Solicit continuous client feedback on OFCO's responsiveness and performance.
  • Customer service is included as a performance element in annual staff evaluations.
  • Staff will receive customer service training in 1999.
  • A process for obtaining continuous client feedback on OFCO’s responsiveness and performance will be developed in 1999.

    • Issue Prioritization

    		  
    • Develop criteria for prioritizing the recurrent and/or systemic issues affecting families and children that OFCO should address.
  • In consultation with its advisory committees, OFCO has developed criteria for selecting systemic issues for investigation.1

    • STRATEGIES

    ACCOMPLISHMENTS

    Investigator Training

    		  
    • Require full-time investigative staff to complete a certified investigator training program.
  • OFCO investigators completed a national certified investigator-training program in April 1998.
  • In addition, staff will be trained on advanced mediation and ombudsman skills in 1999.

    • Independent Audit

    		  
    • Invite an external ombudsman to review and evaluate OFCO's internal operations.
    • An external ombudsman will be invited to review and evaluate OFCO’s internal operations in 1999.

    Complaint Policies and Procedures

    		  
    • Establish clear policies and procedures for processing complaints, and inform clients on these up-front.
  • OFCO’s complaint policies and procedures are contained in the office’s operational policies and procedures manual.
  • OFCO’s complaint process is also clearly and concisely outlined in A Citizen’s Guide to Our Services, a brochure that is provided to complainants. The Guide is posted on OFCO’s web site at: www.governor.wa.gov/ofco.

    • Automated Complaint Tracking System

    		  
    • Develop a database that allows the office to track complainants and complaint trends and patterns and that also includes case management capability.
  • An automated database has been developed by the Office of Financial Management which allows OFCO to track: 1) complainants by type, 2) individual agency employees who are the subject of complaints to OFCO, 3) affected children and families, 4) OFCO’s responses to complaints, and 5) the results of OFCO’s involvement.
  • The database also documents and tracks the progress of each complaint through OFCO’s review and response process, and tracks the time expended by OFCO investigators on each complaint.

    • Community Expectations/Criteria for Success

    		  
    • Maintain advisory committees to provide OFCO with input on community needs, expectations and criteria for success.
  • OFCO continues to solicit input on community expectations and criteria for success from its two advisory committees. Advisory committee members are assisting OFCO in establishing criteria for measuring OFCO’s progress toward achieving its organizational goals.

    • Children’s Advisory Panel

    		  
    • Establish a Children's Advisory Panel to include children who are or have been in the foster care system to provide input on their needs, expectations and criteria for success.
  • An OFCO Childrens’ Advisory Panel is being established to provide input on their needs and expectations.

    •  

    GOAL #2: Establish a statewide presence through public education and awareness activities.

    Considerable effort has been made in this area, but OFCO has yet to establish a true statewide presence. The office intends to intensify its efforts toward achieving this goal in 1999.

    STRATEGIES

    ACCOMPLISHMENTS

    Community Meetings

    		  
    • Establish regular contact with community leaders and organizations across the state, with special emphasis on face-to-face meetings in central and eastern Washington.
    • Use advisory committee members to promote awareness of OFCO in their communities.
    • Use advisory committees help identify and recruit local volunteers to serve on OFCO's speaker's bureau.
  • Advisory committee members made arrangements for OFCO to give presentations at several meetings involving community professionals and the general public in Colville, Seattle, Spokane, Walla Walla, and Wenatchee.
  • In addition, numerous professional and advocacy groups have invited OFCO to meet with their members.
  • OFCO is currently arranging additional meetings across the state.

    • Media Visibility

    		  
    • Actively seek opportunities to promote OFCO through state and local media.
  • OFCO received significant statewide media attention upon releasing its 1998 Report on the Wenatchee Child Sexual Abuse Investigations.
  • In addition, several articles on OFCO and/or its other reports have been published in the Daily Olympian, Tri-Cities Herald, Tacoma News Tribune, Seattle Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and Spokesman Review (see Appendix B).
  • OFCO is continuously seeking opportunities to broaden awareness about OFCO through the local media, especially in central and eastern Washington.

    • Statewide Conferences

    		  
    • Ensure visibility at statewide conferences and other events.
  • OFCO presented at the 1998 statewide conferences of foster parents and court-appointed special advocates (CASAs) in Yakima.
  • OFCO also presented at the 1998 statewide Children’s Justice Conference in Bellevue.
  • In addition, OFCO participated in statewide symposia on child protective services in May 1998, and permanency in September 1998.
  • OFCO continuously seeks opportunities to present at statewide conferences and other events.

    • General Outreach

    		  
    • Ensure that OFCO informational materials are widely available to the general public and thoroughly disseminated among "players" in the system, including parents and children, community professionals and service providers, and community leaders and organizations.
  • Information about OFCO has been distributed to DSHS employees, assistant attorney generals, foster parents, juvenile court personnel, guardian ad litem programs, and public defender agencies.
  • Information about OFCO is currently included in the DSHS Children’s Administration’s new "Client’s Rights" poster and complaint brochure.
  • Information about OFCO is also being included in a brochure under development for older children in foster care. (See p. 12.)
  • OFCO dissemination efforts in 1999 will focus on: 1) reaching additional community leaders, professionals and service providers, and 2) working with DSHS to ensure that children who reside in state facilities and institutions are provided with information about (and access to) OFCO.

    • GOAL #3:Establish trust and credibility among diverse communities across the state.

    Initial efforts were made toward this goal in 1998. Steps taken so far include:

    STRATEGIES

    ACCOMPLISHMENTS

    Customized Outreach

    		  
    • Identify communities that are traditionally hard to reach or feel disenfranchised and develop customized outreach strategies.
  • OFCO is working to expand and diversify the membership of its two advisory committees.
    • With the assistance of these committees, OFCO will begin to develop customized outreach strategies for identified hard to reach and disenfranchised communities.

    Tribal Relations

    		  
    • Develop strong relationships with Tribal governments.
  • OFCO staff members have been trained on the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).
  • OFCO is working to ensure that Tribal government officials and LICWAC members know about OFCO and how to access our services.

    • Barriers to Access and Effective Service Delivery

    		 
    • Ensure that OFCO is sensitive to all forms of diversity – race, ethnicity, language, religion, culture, economic status, and ability.
  • OFCO’s Citizen’s Guide to Our Services is available in Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, and Braille.
  • OFCO also has access to interpreter services as needed.
  • OFCO is accessible through TTY.
  • A process for obtaining continuous client feedback on OFCO’s responsiveness and performance, including sensitivity to diversity issues, is also being developed.

    • GOAL #4: Establish regular lines of communication with agency officials and state policy makers and provide them with objective and credible information.

    OFCO communicates frequently with agency officials and state policy makers and is working to establish regular meeting times with these individuals. Activities to date include:

    STRATEGY

    ACCOMPLISHMENTS

    Interagency Communication

    		 
    • Establish regular meetings with the Governor, members of the Legislative Children's Oversight Committee, and top agency officials, including DSHS Children’s Administration and the Office of the Attorney General.
  • OFCO’s director ombudsman met with the Governor and his staff on several occasions in 1998. OFCO will continue to meet regularly with the Governor and his staff in 1999.
  • OFCO’s director ombudsman met on four occasions with the Legislative Children’s Oversight Committee in 1998. OFCO is working to establish regular informational meetings with the Oversight Committee for 1999.
  • OFCO’s director ombudsman and the assistant secretary of the DSHS Children’s Administration have begun to meet at regularly scheduled intervals. OFCO is also working to establish regular lines of communication with regional administrators.
  • OFCO is scheduling regular informational meetings with the Attorney General and her staff for 1999.

    • 1See Section 5, Complaint Intervention and Investigation Summary.