Rewind: D&I Executive Council Town Hall

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The D&I Executive Council hosted a Town Hall on Monday, Nov. 15 on condemning hate-filled speech and creating a place of belonging.

Speakers included members of the D&I Executive Council and CAO Helen Robbins-Meyer. Plus, many County employees spoke up and out. Watch the Town Hall “on rewind” now.

Resource included in this Town Hall:

Kaiser Permanente Services May Be Impacted by Strike

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If you are covered by Kaiser Permanente, you received an email from the healthcare provider this week with notification of a possible strike. A strike of nurses, administrative personnel, pharmacy staff and other medical professionals could begin as early as Monday, Nov. 15.

As of Friday morning, Kaiser has changed, canceled or rescheduled many upcoming non-urgent appointments. There’s no need to call or email your doctor’s office at this time. Kaiser Permanente will contact you in advance if there are changes to your appointments.

Find information and answers to frequently asked questions online, including where to get prescriptions.

For updates, monitor KP.org.

If you have questions, please call the Member Services Contact Center. The call center is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (closed holidays). Please note that hold times could be longer than usual during a strike.

English: 1-800-464-4000
Spanish: 1-800-788-0616
Chinese dialects: 1-800-757-7585
TTY: 711

Employees Needed to Count People Experiencing Homelessness

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County employees participate in annual count of people experiencing homelessness.

County employees are needed to volunteer for the annual count of people experiencing homelessness.

The annual Point-in-Time Count will take place from 4 to 8 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Volunteers are being asked to arrive at their deployment location by 3:45 a.m. to allow time to become familiar with a mobile app that is used for counting. The app helps to conduct a more accurate count.

This is the eighth year the County has supported the annual count. During the span of several hours, volunteers count and survey people on the streets.

Employees who participate can do so on County time since the Board of Supervisors recently gave its approval.  

The next count, as directed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will entail an “engaged” survey-based approach, where people on the streets will be surveyed as they are encountered rather than just an observational count that was done in the past. To learn more about the engaged count, please watch this 3-minute video. 

The 2020 Point-in-Time County identified 7,638 people who said they were homeless or in shelters throughout the county. No count was conducted this year because of COVID-19.

The count helps the region identify the scope of the problem, apply for federal and state funding, and find solutions on how to best serve this vulnerable population.

The Regional Task Force on Homelessness is leading the local point-in-time effort with the WeALLCount campaign. Last count, approximately 550 County employees participated and employees are again encouraged to participate in this important effort.

The deadline to sign up is Monday, Jan. 24, 2022 at 5 p.m., but employees are encouraged to register for the count as soon as possible as deployment sites fill up quickly. Review the FAQs and then obtain approval from your supervisor via the supervisor approval form if you are interested in participating.

Once you get approval, please sign up here. After you have signed up, you will receive an email receipt for this event. In the email there will be a link to a training from The Regional Task Force on Homelessness for you to review.  

Members of the public can also join the count. If you know family or friends who would like to participate, they can sign up to volunteer.

AAACE Accepting Nominations for Board Positions

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The African American Association of County Employees (AAACE) is accepting nominations for the following Board Positions: President, Vice President, Technology Officer, Vice Chair of Fundraising, Vice Chair of Membership Outreach and  Board Aide.

The mission of AAACE is to recruit, promote and inspire County employees to connect and succeed through education and charitable causes and to accomplish County initiatives and unifying goals that result in improved career opportunities.

Perhaps you can embrace this exciting opportunity, or you know someone who may want to self-nominate. Joining a County Employee Resource Group as a board member is a great way to showcase your skills, develop your passions, expand your County professional network and serve you fellow County employees.

Please note that you need to hold an active membership to be considered. Memberships can be activated or renewed via the AAACE website.

Interested? See the position descriptions and fill out the nomination form by close of business Nov. 30.

Qualifications to serve as a Board of Director or Officer member:

  • You must be a County of San Diego employee

  • You must be a member of the African American Association of County Employees (AAACE)

Time Commitment/Requirements:

  • Attend bi-monthly meetings (typically after work for 1 hour, teleconference available)

  • Term will begin January 2022 and last two calendar years

Questions: Email AAACE at aaace@sdcounty.ca.gov

Know the Code: Fraud, Waste and Abuse

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By the Office of Ethics and Compliance 

This month, in recognition of International Fraud Awareness Week (Nov. 14-20), we are highlighting the Code of Ethics requirements regarding fraud, waste and abuse, and how to prevent and report fraudulent activity.  

Organizations worldwide lose an estimated 5% of their annual revenues to fraud, according to the 2020 ACFE Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse. Fraud takes many shapes and forms, among them corporate fraud, consumer fraud, tax fraud, identity theft and many others. 

What is fraud? 

In the broadest sense, the term fraud encompasses actions that are meant to deceive for financial or personal gain. It’s any intentional or deliberate act to deprive another of property or money by guile, deception, or other unfair means. Fraud, such as improper cost reports, double or phantom billing, committed by employees or vendors represents a real risk to the County. 

Why should we care about fraud? 

Fraud costs billions of dollars in damage to companies, governments and individuals each year. Additionally, fraud can dramatically affect the quality of life of its victims—and the employees of its victims—resulting in job losses, the loss of savings and investments, weakened trust in public institutions and a significant strain on resources. 

Would you trust a bank with a reputation of defrauding its account holders? Do you think customers, clients or the public will trust an organization that cannot properly protect their assets? As a County, we have “zero tolerance” for fraud, we investigate all fraud complaints and we train to raise awareness of potential fraud. 

What can be done to prevent fraud? 

Every employee, regardless of position, can help prevent and detect fraud. Trust your instincts–if you observe something that does not seem right, you should evaluate the situation. Then, if you still have doubts or suspicions, speak up, report irregularities to managers, OEC or the Ethics Hotline at 866-549-0004. 

Preventing fraud is not just the responsibility of management, supervisors or the audit team. Everyone has a role to play in the prevention of fraud. Help the County protect its finances—and the public—from harm. 

Check out the OEC webpage on InSite for information about upcoming Ethics & Compliance Program events, training, and resources including monthly “Know the Code” articles and micro-training videos. 

If you have questions about ethics and compliance training or how to access the training and other ethics and compliance resources, please contact the OEC team at oec@sdcounty.ca.gov or (619) 531-5174. HHSA staff may also contact the dedicated HHSA Compliance and Privacy team at compliance.hhsa@sdcounty.ca.gov or (619) 338-2807. 

Know the Code is a monthly series highlighting different sections of the County of San Diego Code of Ethics. The mission of the Office of Ethics and Compliance (OEC) is to assist in fulfilling the County’s commitment to the highest standards of ethics and compliance.  

There Is No Place for Hate Here

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The D&I Executive Council stands up to hate and invites all employees to a town hall where we can share our collective support for creating spaces of belonging. The event will take place Monday, Nov. 15 at noon.

Join the event via Zoom:

https://zoom.us/j/97021200355

Meeting ID: 970 2120 0355

One tap mobile: +16699006833,,97021200355#

Dial by your location: +1 669 900 6833

Meeting ID: 970 2120 0355

This session will be recorded and available on InSite after the event.

Join VALOR for Wreaths Across America

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On Saturday, Dec. 18, VALOR Employee Resource Group will participate in the placement of more than 10,000 wreaths at Miramar National Cemetery as part of Wreaths Across America. This event was born in 1992 out of a desire to remember and honor American service members for their contributions in preserving our freedom.

Every December, the San Diego community comes together for Wreaths Across America to honor our veterans, remember our fallen heroes and teach children about the sacrifices made by veterans and their families.

To join VALOR at the Miramar Cemetery, register at the following Eventbrite link: MIRAMAR CEMETERY-VALOR.

Note: The National Cemetery Administration has COVID guidelines in place including staggering volunteers by time slots. Face masks are required.

If you want to sponsor a wreath, visit Wreaths Across American online and click “Sponsor Wreaths.”

CAO Message: Incivility at Our Board Meetings

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Message from Helen Robbins-Meyer, Chief Administrative Officer

You may have witnessed yourself or heard about some of the public comment at yesterday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. The remarks included racist and violent language, directed at individual members of County leadership. I’ve never been as disgusted or angry in my years spent in the chambers. As the chief administrator for the County, I condemn the language and behavior in the strongest possible terms.

People can have reasonable disagreements about the tactics used to protect the public’s health during a pandemic. Actions that affect people’s livelihoods and health understandably prompt an emotional response. We have a forum for airing those disagreements, a cherished feature of our democracy.

But increasingly in recent months, that right to be heard has been turned into an opportunity to make personal attacks, to level unfounded accusations, to spread misinformation. The escalating rhetoric may fall within the bounds of free speech, but yesterday it crossed all lines of decency. Our County leadership is reviewing meeting protocols for ways we can maintain First Amendment rights while keeping threatening hate speech out of our proceedings.   

I’m sorry for the people in the room that were the targets of those remarks. People who have tried mightily to fulfill their duty to guard our residents’ health. If you were listening, I’m sorry you had to hear the kind of abuse no one should be subjected to. It was revolting and distressing. I’ll offer a reminder that our Employee Assistance Program offers free, confidential counseling for anyone who would find it helpful.

We denounce the vile racism and cruelty that made their way into our efforts to conduct the people’s business. We are committed to working with our residents in shaping their community. But we all share a responsibility to come together with civility and respect toward one another.