Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 18 - HUMAN SERVICES › Part 6 - Division of Family and Children's Services › Chapter 1 - DFCS Policy Manual › Section 18-6-1-A - Administration › Subpart I - ADMINISTRATION › Section 18-6-1-A-I-V - ORGANIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE TEAMS

Current through June 25, 2024
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:
1. responsibilities;
2. a process for assessing and implementing
					 responsibilities, such as establishing task forces/committees; and
3. under what conditions and to whom interim
					 authority can be delegated.
Administrative team members should:
1. receive an orientation to the DFCS's
					 mission, history, goals, objectives, structure, methods of operation;
2. become familiar with DFCS
					 activities and be introduced to key staff members; and
3. be furnished electronic or hard copies of
					 the DFCS's Administrative Policies (AP)
Administrative teams should maintain administrative files
						and manuals that include:
1. the
					 organizational and supervisory configuration with reporting information for all
					 operations; and
2. up-to-date
					 minutes and records of all administrative team meetings.
A.
Administrative Teams
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.
B.
Administrative Roles - Ongoing Functions and Communication
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.