18 Miss. Code. R. 6-1-A-I-V
DFCS shall promote clear, ongoing communication and teamwork among all staff. There shall be a formal administrative system designed to facilitate communication and teamwork. Roles and responsibilities shall be clearly documented and communicated to staff. Staff shall receive timely information concerning the DFCS's mission, vision, values, practice and management philosophies and policies.
Identified administrative teams should exercise leadership through a functional, effective operational structure. Administrative teams are distinct from Implementation teams in that they represent the formal administrative chain of command, and their functions support systematic application of defined administrative practices.
Administrative teams should establish in writing:
Administrative team members should:
Administrative teams should maintain administrative files and manuals that include:
Administrative teams shall be developed based on the DFCS's organizational structure of administrative units. The current structure requires the following administrative teams:
* Deputy Administrative team
* Office Administrative team
* Bureau Administrative team
* Division Administrative team
* Regional Administrative team
* County Administrative team
As the administrative organizational structure changes, teams should be restructured to correspond.
The Senior Management team is an additional ongoing Administrative team. This team is composed of the Deputy Administrator, Office Directors, Bureau Directors, RDs and others as required and named by the Deputy Administrator. Meetings of senior Management shall be held no less than bi-monthly.
The administrative structure, roles, functions and communication channels are defined through:
* Official MDHS organizational charts
* Succession rosters
* Program functions and goals
* Roles and responsibilities of team members
* Planning calendars
* Meeting minutes
The organizational structure begins with a core team consisting of the Deputy Administrator and Office Directors or others in the line of the Administrator's direct supervision. Master organizational charts, which shall be updated as required by the MDHS Division of Human Resources and made accessible to all DFCS staff, shall be developed to define each successive core team as well as expanded administrative teams at the Office, Bureau, Division, (and similar state office administrative units), Regional and County administrative levels. Each core team shall develop and maintain rosters indicating the succession of authority in the absence of the team supervisor. The team supervisor shall ensure that information needed for updates to organizational charts is communicated through the chain of command and succession rosters are kept current.
The program functions and goals of each Office, Bureau, Division or other state, regional or county level administrative team should be developed and updated, at least, annually.
Roles and responsibilities of individual team members should be developed and updated, at least, annually. Roles and responsibilities should be consistent with official Job Content Questionnaires and MDHS performance appraisal procedures as defined by the Human Resources Division of MDHS.
Each ASWS, RD and central office administrative and program unit director shall submit to their immediate supervisor, by December 31 each year, information needed to update succession rosters, descriptions of program functions, team members' roles and responsibilities and a projected calendar for administrative team activities and meetings.
The Deputy Administrator's core administrative team, in consultation with the senior management team, will develop an annual administrative planning calendar by January 31 of the following year which shall be provided to all DFCS staff This planning calendar shall be developed during the annual strategic planning meeting of the senior management team.
The master planning calendar shall be updated as needed, but no less frequently than quarterly, and distributed to all DFCS staff Monthly work planning calendars shall be developed and provided to the immediate supervisor and staff directly supervised by a team member. Team leaders shall nominate one team member to be responsible for updating calendars.
DFCS organizational charts will be updated as requested by the Division of Human Resources.
Administrative team meetings shall be held as needed, but no less than monthly, face to face, through conference calls, video conferences or a combination of the three.
Agenda items for all regularly scheduled meetings will include, at a minimum, the following:
* Discussion regarding new policies or procedures and/or discussion regarding the need for clarification, changes or updates to existing policy and/or procedures
* Discussion of goal attainment using DFCS data or other sources of information to assess the team's ongoing effectiveness in achieving goals or meeting requirements
* Discussion of the need for changes or improvements in practice to achieve goals
* Identification and communication of issues requiring special attention
* Development of action plans to address areas of identified need
DFCS, at the respective state, regional and county administrative levels, shall maintain administrative files containing organizational charts, succession rosters, description of program functions, general roles of staff, projected schedules for administrative team meetings and minutes from team meetings. Minutes of administrative team meetings shall be provided to team members and to the immediate supervisor of the team leader. There should be a centralized, electronic administrative file organized by administrative unit. It should contain folders for the maintenance of information required in this section. Team leaders shall nominate one staff member to be responsible for collection, maintenance and distribution of minutes and other administrative files listed in this paragraph.
New administrative team members shall receive an orientation to the DFCS's mission, history, goals, objectives, structure, methods of operation and shall be introduced to key staff members. They shall be provided access to the MDHS DFCS's Administrative Policies, DFCS policies, Child and Family Services Plan (CFSP) and the most recent APSR. They may download copies of these files which should be maintained in the DFCS's electronic administrative files.
18 Miss. Code. R. 6-1-A-I-V