NEW YORK STATE-OTDA JULY 2012 VOLUME 7, ISSUE 2 TRAINING TIME(S) Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance Elizabeth R. Berlin, Executive Deputy Commissioner Division of Operations and Program Support Wilma Brown Phillips, Deputy Commissioner New York State Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor TRAINING AND MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS Bureau of Training and Management Analysis Will Zwink, Director 2012 SDCAM – STAFF DEVELOPMENT ANNUAL MEETING Almost 100 Social Services District Staff Development Coordinators, State OCFS and OTDA staff and workshop presenters met in June in Albany for the Staff Development Coordinators Annual Meeting. Even though we endured a heat wave during the event, a lot was accomplished through workshops, presentations and networking. Delaware SDC Patricia Tyrell and NYC HRA Deputy Director Geraldine Penn look forward to sharing ideas about upstate and NYC training programs again at next year’s meeting!
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T R A I N I N G T I M E ( S )
Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance Elizabeth R. Berlin, Executive Deputy Commissioner
Division of Operations and Program Support Wilma Brown Phillips, Deputy Commissioner
New York State Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor
TRAINING AND MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS
Bureau of Training and Management Analysis Will Zwink, Director
2 0 1 2 S D C A M – S T A F F D E V E L O P M E N T A N N U A L M E E T I N G
Almost 100 Social Services District Staff Development Coordinators, State OCFS and OTDA staff and workshop presenters met in June in Albany for the
Staff Development Coordinators Annual Meeting. Even though we endured a heat wave during the event, a lot was accomplished through workshops,
presentations and networking.
Delaware SDC Patricia Tyrell and NYC HRA Deputy Director Geraldine Penn look forward to sharing ideas about upstate and NYC training programs
again at next year’s meeting!
D I R E C T O R ’ S S P O T L I G H T – W I L L Z W I N K
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Have a great summer! Here are a few OTDA updates: OTDA welcomes back TAMA Contract Manager, Desiree Dukes, who served for over a year in Djibouti, Africa in
the Navy Reserve. We are very glad she is back safe with her family and appreciate all of her contributions. Desiree will continue service in the Reserve. Here she is pictured receiving a commendation medal for her com-munications and humanitarian work from VCNO Adm. Mark Ferguson, second in command in the Navy.
We also welcome new Staff Development Coordinators Kathleen Cook, Ulster County; Maureen Schmidt, War-
ren County; Ellen Merkel, Monroe County and Helen Detiberus, Deputy Commissioner of Schoharie who will also serve as SDC. OCFS and OTDA training staff provided orientations on May 21. Karen Hillis, returning as SDC for Washington County also participated.
Heartfelt congratulations to Regina Russ, Asst. Deputy Commissioner, NYC Human Resources Administration
Office of Training Operations, as recipient of the Margaret “Peg” Ives Award from the Staff Development Associ-ation of NYS for outstanding service in staff development for her great contributions to NYC HRA and many other upstate Social Services Districts. Regina received the award at the 2012 SDCAM.
New courses: OTDA is developing three NYC Cash Assistance Budgeting & Coding TrainingSpace web modules as a resource for NYC HRA work-
ers. “Three Generation Households,” reviewing cash assistance policy for households that contain a teen parent still residing at home with his or her parents, will be released in July. Applicable screen shots from the NYC paperless office system (POS) are illustrated in the training. The other two topics, “Stepparent & Grandparent Deeming Calculations” and “Three Generation Budgeting” are under development. STARS registration will not be necessary for these web modules. Two web modules formerly known as “Barriers to Self-Sufficiency: An Overview of Alcohol & Substance Abuse” and “Barriers to Self-Sufficiency: Screening for Alcohol & Substance Abuse,” first launched in 2005, have been updated. Titles have been shortened to: “An Overview of Alcohol & Substance Abuse” and “Screening for Alcohol & Substance Abuse.” These modules were released in June. TAMA is working with OTDA’s Bureau of Management Services on a “Hazard Communication and Toxic Sub-stance Right-to-Know” web module. This mandatory course is intended for the OTDA workforce and provides information concerning the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Hazard Communica-tion Standard, also called HCS or HazCom, and the New York State Right-to-Know Law.
Finally, we note the passing of John Gaston, long term SUC Buffalo trainer fondly remembered by his col-leagues in CEES and OTDA. He provided top quality training in Food Stamps, CentraPort and Imaging. John took pride in mastering his subject matter and thinking of the best ways to assist his trainees. He loved working with county staff and was gifted in conducting presentations and providing individual assistance and support. John was also well respected by his team members and was appreciated for his unassuming way of handling situations. He was known for his intelligence, creativity and his remarkable sense of humor.
H E A P A N N U A L M E E T I N G — A P R I L
Over 100 Social Services District Home Energy Assistance Program experts received the latest policy updates from OTDA at the annual meeting in
April. OTDA Center for Employment and Economic Supports HEAP Bureau Chief Paula Cook and her staff, including Kathleen Martin coordinated the
program with TAMA event managers. The event helps OTDA solicit Social Services District input on revisions to HEAP policies and procedures, and to
provide an open forum for counties to ask questions, make suggestions and share best practices in preparation for the upcoming HEAP season.
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F A C E S F R O M T H E 2 0 1 2 S T A F F D E V E L O P M E N T C O O R D I N A T O R S A N N U A L M E E T I N G
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2 0 1 2 N Y W F I A A N N U A L M E E T I N G
Over 230 Social Services District Welfare Fraud Investigators attended the 2012 New York Welfare Fraud Investigators Association annual meet-ing June 4-6 in Syracuse. Above: Honored were past NYFWFIA Presidents William Zilberman and Peter K. Jenik, with presenter Dennis Packard, Commissioner of Schenectady County DSS. Bottom from left: current NYWFIA President Perry Wheeler with workshop presenter Cynthia Hether-ington; OTDA Director of Program Integrity, Larry Pittz and OTDA Audit and Quality Improvement Director, Kevin Kehmna.
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July Update:
17 counties trained in Windows 7/Office 2010.
11 counties to go.
29 counties selected a Blended Learning approach.
TAMA Resources:
Train-the-Trainer
Desk Aids
Web Modules iLinc courses
Onsite or regional training
N E W Y O R K S T A T E - O T D A
Program Training Team Mike Prevost: 518-474-8518
Administrative Team Carlise Lovelady: 518-473-4482
Will Zwink, Director 40 N Pearl St. 12-C Albany, NY 12243 Tammy Provost Phone: 518-402-9600 Fax: 518–408-3346 Please forward all com-ments to Jason Moran
TAMA Staff
Here is our current Training Catalog. Please click on the link below: Training Catalog
Dawn Abbey Patty Gotte Patrick Mills Jason Moran
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M E E T T H E T R A I N E R - P A M E L A E D S T R O M
Regina Andrews Desiree Dukes Tracy Jarrett Paula Marshman
Lisa Rounds Kevin Sullivan JoAnne Wilson
N E W H V C C L I F E P L U S O N E C O O R D I N A T O R — B R I A N T R A U T M A M
OTDA welcomes new Hudson Valley Community College
Coordinator Brian Trautman to help us with registration
and advisement. Brian brings plenty of experience to the
position, including teaching philosophy and economics
and faculty experience in guidance.
Pictured with Brian are JoAnne Wilson, TAMA Contract
Manager for the Life Plus One program, and HVCC Admin-
istrator, Deborah Kowalski, who has partnered with OTDA
for several years.
Brian will be conducting orientation sessions for interest-
ed OTDA staff to answer all questions about the pro-
grams. Please look for the HVCC signs.
NYC-based organizational development trainer, Pamela Edstrom, is becoming well known by OTDA and local Social Services District staff through her work with CUNY Hunter Brookdale. Her demeanor and professional approach to agency and supervisory problems is appeal-ing and well-regarded by her trainees. Pam worked as the Director of Training for the NYC Human Resources Administration Office of Do-mestic Violence for many years and has a Masters in Social Work from Columbia University. Her undergraduate degree is in Zoology from the University of Denver. Pam is adjunct faculty for the CUNY Hunter School of Social Work and the Borough of Manhattan Community Col-lege. Pam crosses the State training diversity, conflict resolution, ad-vanced writing, emotional intelligence and lately, intergenerational management. Pam believes that these topics are universal and that “we all need to pay attention to these components of successful man-agement. I really enjoy my interactions with State and local district staff as we discuss issues surrounding the use of the proven concepts I teach, particularly as we develop younger workers.”
Pam enjoys the outdoors and travel. Since she retired from HRA, she has traveled to China, Australia and Italy as the number one booster of her cousin, Cullen Jones, 28, an Olympic gold medal freestyle swim-mer. As this profile is written, Pam is in Omaha, cheering on Cullen as he successfully competed in the trials for the upcoming London Olym-pics in the 50M and 100M relays. Pam readily shares that Cullen was profiled in Glamour magazine and is featured on a billboard on 42nd Street.
