Copyright 2001 The Washington Post


The Washington Post
March 29, 2001 Thursday
Final Edition
SECTION: D.C. EXTRA; Pg. T05

LENGTH: 1409 words

HEADLINE: New Human Services Chief Takes the Long View

BODY:


Mayor Anthony A. Williams last month nominated Carolyn W. Colvin to head the city's Department of Human Services, a post not permanently filled since January 2000. Colvin, formerly an official with the Maryland Department of Human Resources and the federal Social Security Administration, discussed her goals for the department in a recent interview with staff writer Sewell Chan.

Q What are your priorities for the Human Services Department? What are your immediate short-term and long-term goals?

A Well, I need to assess what we're already doing and see what we're doing about identifying gaps that exist, but I'm very much interested in ensuring that we have a system that provides integrated, comprehensive care for the customers that we serve. Also, I want to make certain that we provide services . . . with the greatest quality possible, that we have prompt service, that it's courteous, that it's efficient and effective. . . .

I've looked at three program areas that I think I need to give priority to. The first is the Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Administration. That program has had a lot of instability, and clearly there are a lot of challenges there. And, of course, my priority is to ensure that all of the clients remain safe, that we ensure their well-being.

The second area is welfare reform. We have about 2,600 families who will come up against their 60-month eligibility limit. And so we need to make sure we have provided the type of comprehensive wraparound services and support those families need to move to self-sufficiency. . . .

Then the third is homelessness, which of course has been a concern here in the District. I read that Washington, D.C., has one of the most comprehensive plans for the homeless, so I want to review that in more detail and make sure we are in fact implementing the plan that's been developed so we can protect those individuals who find themselves in that particular state.

So that's sort of where I am initially. Remember, I've been here about four weeks now.

You were formerly an official at the Social Security Administration. What lessons do you hope to bring from your experience to District government?

I do have the good fortune of working for Social Security, which is probably the premier governmental agency, and we have been well-known for the level of customer satisfaction with services. . . . We've learned that if you can get the active engagement of the stakeholders who have a vested interest in the services that you provide, you have a [much] better program because they often can see things that can improve a program that those of us on the inside may not see. . . .

And I think that one of the things I learned is that if the public has confidence in the integrity of the program, you get a lot of support. And human services serve the most vulnerable and needy in our community. It is important that the public has trust in us. So one of the areas that I'll be focusing on is the area of waste, abuse and fraud to ensure that we have [no] activities in that area.

How specifically do you hope to improve monitoring of programs?

I just met with our Office of Investigations and Compliance to learn what we're doing there, so I'm not at a point where I'm able to say what we really need to do yet. . . .

I think that this department has had a lot of instability, but I've been very impressed with the commitment to public service that we have throughout the department. I think that many people would have left a long time ago with the challenges that they face here, but it's because of their commitment to populations that we serve and to public service in general that they have remained. . . . I don't want to reinvent the wheel. There have been more than a dozen directors of human services over the past decade. Are you here for the long haul?

Definitely. I said to the mayor that I'm here until he asks me to leave. If you look at my track record, I'm generally in a position at least five years. I think it takes you a period of time to really assess the operation you're coming into and to develop your plans, and then to implement them. . . .

I think that the challenges are probably greater than even I envisioned. I did a lot of data gathering before I came, and even that did not prepare me for the level of challenge that I found here. But I believe that the experiences that I've had in the past and the skills that I've developed over the years, those two things have prepared me well for what I will have to do here.

And I've been particularly pleased with the mayor's strong support for strengthening children and families. Not only has he said that verbally, his budget reflects his strong commitment. And so that gives me great hope. . . . What has the District learned from welfare reform nationally since 1996 and also from our own experience in the District?

I don't think the District's experience has been any different than the rest of the country. We knew that there would be groups of families that would be able to go off and become self-sufficient with a minimal amount of assistance.

And we knew that eventually we would come to the group of individuals who had real serious barriers that had prevented them from becoming self-sufficient. And those families would need more care and more support, and I think that's where we are right now.

Washington, D.C., has a high illiteracy rate, and generally when you're talking about welfare-to-work we're thinking about helping people to get prepared by getting their GED. . . . We've got to work very closely with the business community to identify employment opportunities for people who may not have those level of skills.

And there are other barriers that some of our families will have. We need to make sure there are no incidents of disability that have not been identified. . . . There are probably families who have problems with addiction, substance abuse. . . . I've been very, very pleased with the level of support for child care services. . . . The constant complaint of many District agency heads is having little or no control over contracting and procurement and personnel.

Well, that's an area that I do have concern about, and I can say it to you 'cause I said it to the mayor when I was interviewed. I think it's very, very difficult for a department head to do a level of reform that one can be satisfied with when you don't have control over your basic support operations like your budget, grants and procurement, or these others.

And having said that now, what I've experienced since I've been here is tremendous support and assistance from the individuals who have control over that.

Tell me a little bit about your efforts to reach out to the community and to the clients of DHS.

I'm not a behind-a-desk manager. I have already visited every one of my administrative offices. I have visited one of our service centers -- the one right up here on South Capitol -- to see, in fact [they] didn't know who I was, and I wanted to see for myself the level of courtesy and attention that we give these people who are here for our service.

And I was very pleased to see that they were very courteous. It was a very attractive facility. The people who were waiting did not [have] a delay of a very long time, although I understand that in all of our offices we have a longer waiting time than we want. But as long as our office is attractive and we let people know when we're going to get to them, I'm satisfied. . . .

I want to develop new partnerships with the private sector, the business community, our religious [organizations]. . . . I intend to be out to community meetings. In my last job in Social Security, I visited churches. I was probably on the road three weeks out of four because that's how you learn what you're doing, and I talked to our employees because our employees are often overlooked, and they have a tough job.

Many of the people who come to us are at the end of their rope, and so they come to us. They're not always the most pleasant, but we have to still be pleasant. Sometimes, we can't help them, and we have to be able to say no to them, but with human dignity.

It's a high-burnout position. I want to be out there letting employees know that we appreciate what they're doing, be certain that we're giving them the training that they need, that they have computer and other equipment and tools that they need. . . .

LOAD-DATE: March 29, 2001