Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: John L. Maltbie, County Manager
Subject: Employee of the Month for October 2017
RECOMMENDATION:
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Honor Julia Dale-Jensen as Employee of the Month for October 2017 and authorize the President of the Board to sign the commendation.
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BACKGROUND:
The Employee of the Month program was established in December 1984 to recognize and honor County employees who consistently demonstrate an outstanding level of performance.
Our Employee of the Month for October 2017 is Julia Dale-Jensen, a Human Services Supervisor in the Human Services Agency.
DISCUSSION:
Julia Dale-Jensen has been working for the County for over 24 years. She is a first line supervisor providing support, training and guidance to benefits analysts and office assistants. Additionally, she is the lead facilitator for the First Contact Resolution (FCR) initiative in the Economic Self-Sufficiency (ESS) Division. The First Contact Resolution initiative is a process in solving a client’s service needs the first time they call, come into an office or mail in applications or verifications to process their cases timely.
Julia has spearheaded and kept the First Contact Resolution initiative moving forward. She shares progress and next steps to the ESS Leadership team on a regular basis. Julia is the driver of timelines and the sole person responsible for ensuring benchmarks are met as well as updating the strategy monthly as part of the ESS strategic plan.
Though work remains to be done and the full impact of the FCR initiative is not yet realized, staff are reporting higher morale as a result of solving client service needs at first contact. ESS processes are more efficient leading to the highest productivity rates since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. This initiative has resulted in better customer service. It is now business practice to work a client’s case through all outstanding issues at any point of contact with our office. This has resulted in a significant decrease in tasks. The office once had over 100,000 outstanding tasks and it has decreased to 27,000 tasks and it continues to drop.
Julia has also played an instrumental part in collaborating with the Health Department to help with health coverage enrollment and outreach particularly during the early days of the Children's Health Initiative.
Julia continues to perform her regular supervisory duties keeping up with performance evaluations and improving her eligibility program knowledge so she can be a resource to staff and colleagues. Julia is fair and knowledgeable and most importantly responsive to staff and clients.
In addition to Julia’s full time job, she has taken on the role of the AYSO Commissioner for her community. She strongly believes in the program’s ability to provide all youth regardless of skill level or developmental level with an opportunity to participate on a soccer team in their community.
Our County is fortunate to have Julia Dale-Jensen as an outstanding employee.