Sometimes a Great Podcast

Oregon Department of Human Services

Catch up on this week's news from Discover and listen to interviews of staff from around the state.

  1. 1d ago

    The Big Picture: Lakeview, Long Roads and the Resourcefulness of Frontier Work

    Season 1, Episode 93: July 15, 2026 Length: 27:43 This week, The Big Picture returns to Lakeview for a conversation with Kendra Holderman, a permanency caseworker serving families across a vast frontier county where distance, weather and limited resources shape almost every part of the work. Kendra talks about the closeness of the Lakeview office, where staff lean on one another, brainstorm together and occasionally show appreciation by hiding hundreds of copies of their supervisor’s face around the building. Underneath the humor is a serious reality: in a place where services are scarce, coworkers often become one of the most important resources available. The conversation explores what permanency work looks like when a visit can mean hours of driving, a specialized service may be two hours away or more, and the answer to a resource gap is rarely a simple referral. Instead, staff rely on creative workarounds, community partners, gas vouchers, hotel rooms, voice notes from the road and a willingness to keep searching until something works. The episode also looks at what Oregon risks losing when frontier communities lose jobs, services and local knowledge. Kendra describes a place where neighbors still bring casseroles, people help each other get what they need from the next town over, and children can grow up with a sense of safety and independence that is harder to find elsewhere. In the end, the conversation is about resilience, resourcefulness and the choice to stay in a place that is not easy, but is home. From long drives and limited services to quiet streets, open space and a community that keeps finding a way, Lakeview offers a reminder that the work is often hardest where the distance is greatest—and that seeing the whole picture means understanding why people stay in… The Big Picture. CreditsHost: Dr. Bethany Grace Howe, CommunicationsProduced by: Dr. Bethany Grace HoweContact: bethany.g.howe@odhs.oregon.gov

  2. 2d ago

    Poddy Wonka and the OD-late Factory

    Season 1, Episode 92 — July 13, 2026Length: 9:59 This week’s episode opens the factory gates on passwords, deadlines, nutrition benefits, summer snapshots and a new Mi Gente newsletter, where every golden ticket comes with a registration link and every mysterious door probably requires multi-factor authentication. The episode begins with new sign-in options from OIS: Windows Hello and FIDO with YubiKey, which will allow enrolled staff to change passwords once a year instead of every 60 days. From there, Deadline: ODHS covers food market celebrations, an About My Job session, the Beaver Duck Innovation Classic, mentoring orientation, ADA webinar reminders and the Governor’s Employee Town Hall recording, before Dateline checks in on new nutrition benefits for eligible OHP members, OHSE’s Summer Your Way Challenge and Mi Gente’s first quarterly newsletter. 4Minutes4U: (1:47) Windows Hello and FIDO with YubiKey sign-in options Deadline: ODHS: (3:33) Transformation Office Hours postponed July 14 and July 27: ODHS free food markets celebrate four years July 15: SSP: About My Job session with Greg Chandler July 22: Beaver Duck Innovation Classic August 11: ERGs: Mentoring Program Orientation Reminders: July 14: ADA Anniversary Webinar Series continues Fact of the Week: NONE Dateline: ODHS: (6:39) New nutrition benefits for eligible OHP members OHSE Summer Your Way Challenge ERGs: Mi Gente quarterly newsletter Writer’s Round-Up: “ODHS and the Chocolate Factory” (8:46)

  3. Jul 8

    The Big Picture: Salem, Sticky Notes and Seeing the Whole System

    Season 1, Episode 91: July 8, 2026 Length: 26:57 This week, The Big Picture comes from South Salem, where we sit down with Kylie Pedraza, a lead worker at the South Salem branch, and Rodrigo Rodriguez, branch operations manager for District 2, to talk about a rapid process improvement event focused on eligibility interviews, triage and serving Oregonians at first contact. The conversation starts with a very government-sounding sentence about RPI, eligibility scheduling and statewide workflow changes, then quickly turns into something much more human. Kylie and Rodrigo describe how staff from across Oregon came together to examine what was not working, including the time spent chasing appointments, the challenges of online applications and the gap between how a process is designed and how it actually feels for staff and customers. They also talk about what made the event different: people from storefront offices, the Virtual Eligibility Center, support staff, eligibility workers, leads, managers, policy and labor all in the same room. With sticky notes, process maps and a shared goal, the group could see how one decision moves through many hands—and how a small pain point in one part of the system can become a much bigger challenge somewhere else. For Kylie and Rodrigo, the experience changed how they look at the work. It showed them how decisions are made, how many people are affected by one process and why it matters to ask who else needs to be part of the conversation. It also reinforced that solving problems well is not about one office, one role or one perspective. It is about recognizing the whole system and making changes with the people who understand the work from the inside. In the end, the conversation is about collaboration, curiosity and the value of bringing people together with a common purpose: making the process better for staff and for the Oregonians they serve. From South Salem to Gresham and across the state, it is a reminder that real improvement starts when people can see their piece, hear everyone else’s and understand how it all fits into… The Big Picture. CreditsHost: Dr. Bethany Grace Howe, CommunicationsProduced by: Dr. Bethany Grace HoweContact: bethany.g.howe@odhs.oregon.gov

  4. Jul 6

    Everything, Everywhere All in a Pod!

    Season 1, Episode 90 July 6, 2026 Length: 9:53 This week’s episode jumps across the ODHS multiverse, where time entry, SNAP accuracy, Transformation, First Contact and retirement planning all have their own portal, deadline and very specific set of instructions. The episode begins with a payroll update: starting with the August mid-month payroll run for the Aug. 14 pay date, DAS will stop auto-approving unsubmitted or unapproved mid-month time entry. From there, the episode covers Oregon’s 2025 SNAP payment error rate, Oregon City’s Transformation work after the 2023 flood, OEP’s First Contact project and Oregon Savings Growth Plan training available through the end of July. 4Minutes4U: DAS ending auto-approval of mid-month time entry starting with the August mid-month payroll run Deadline: ODHS: July 14: All Staff Transformation Office Hours Reminders: July 8: Improving Workplace Collaboration webinar Tuesdays in July: ADA anniversary webinar series Fact of the Week: OEP: SNAP payment error rate and qualifying for HR 1’s temporary implementation delay provision. Dateline: ODHS: Transformation: Oregon City APD Transformation story OEP:First Contact project updates Oregon Savings Growth Plan training Writer’s Round-Up: “ODHS Everywhere All at Once”

  5. Jul 1

    The Big Picture: Showing Up Where People Are

    Season 1, Episode 89 — July 1, 2026 Length: 9:23  In Discover, there are the stories that tell you what’s changing—deadlines, programs, policies—and then there are the stories that show you what the work actually looks like. This week, as we will from time-to-time, we’re going to tell you more about that work, and more importantly, the people doing it. Taken together, these stories point to something consistent: systems do not become accessible on their own. They become accessible because people move them closer, make them warmer, connect what is disconnected and keep dignity at the center. This episode also recognizes Christine Decker, whose original Discover stories make this collection possible. Her reporting, care and storytelling helped these stories be seen, and this edition of The Big Picture is possible because of her work. CreditsHost: Dr. Bethany Grace Howe, CommunicationsProduced by: Dr. Bethany Grace HoweContact: bethany.g.howe@odhs.oregon.gov

  6. Jun 29

    ODHS: Podly Going on the Human Frontier

    Season 1, Episode 88 — June 29, 2026 Length: 9:59 This week’s episode boldly goes where Teams meetings have gone before, with updates on in-person work expectations, inclusive hiring, workplace collaboration and a few reminders from the ODHS calendar. The episode begins with Director Liesl Wendt’s June 24 Discover message clarifying what is changing — and what is not — around in-person work guidance for managers and remote work requests for staff. From there, the episode covers an Inclusive Hiring Advocates information session, a Canopy webinar on workplace collaboration, reminders about Governor Tina Kotek’s employee town hall and ADA anniversary webinars, and a quick stop in Enterprise before Writer’s Round-Up takes the show into the final frontier. 4Minutes4U: June 24: Director Wendt’s message on in-person work guidance and remote work Deadline: ODHS: June 30: Inclusive Hiring Advocates Information Session July 8: Improving Workplace Collaboration webinar with Canopy Reminders: June 30: Governor Tina Kotek employee town hall Tuesdays in July: ADA anniversary webinar series Fact of the Week: NONE Dateline: ODHS: Nothing this week Writer’s Round-Up: Star Trek sendoff

  7. Jun 24

    A Return to Grant County, 62 Days, and the Stories That Keep Going

    Season 1, Episode 87 — June 24, 2026 Length: 17:36 This week, The Big Picture returns to Grant County for a follow-up conversation with Krista Qual, a family coach with ODHS and Self-Sufficiency Programs, and Kristina Krieger, a case manager with Aging and People with Disabilities. A few months ago, we visited Grant County to talk about rural service, distance, and the community resources that become essential when the next office, internet connection or source of help may be hours away. That series included the Grant County Public Library, the Monument Food Bank and the people working to make sure neighbors can still get help in places where support often depends on showing up for one another. Now, there is news to share. The library district passed, which means the Grant County Public Library remains available as a place for internet access, forms, printing, help with online systems and the everyday support that many people rely on. For Krista and Christina, that matters not only as ODHS staff, but as people who live in the community and know what losing that access would have meant. The episode also checks in on the Monument Food Bank, where construction is underway on a new building. With walls going up and insulation being added, the space is beginning to match the pride, care and commitment already present in the work. It is one more sign that in Grant County, independence and community support are not opposites. They often exist side by side. And because this is Grant County, the conversation happens during 62 Days, Canyon City’s celebration of the 1862 discovery of gold, complete with period clothing, old-west pageantry, and a shootout that was, thankfully, less permanent than advertised. In the end, the episode is about what changes after a story airs, what holds after a vote, what gets built after a need is named, and why sometimes the only way to understand a place is to come back and see it in… The Big Picture. CreditsHost: Dr. Bethany Grace Howe, CommunicationsProduced by: Dr. Bethany Grace HoweContact: bethany.g.howe@odhs.oregon.gov

  8. Jun 22

    ODHS and the Great Wooly Pod Gathering

    Season 1, Episode 86 — June 22, 2026 Length: 9:59 This week’s episode follows the thread through a full flock of ODHS updates, from courage and access to hiring, technology, community, preparedness, safety, belonging and remembrance. With no new 4Minutes4U this week, the episode begins in Deadline: ODHS with World Refugee Day, Inclusive Hiring Advocates and ADA anniversary webinars. From there, Dateline rounds up the new OIS self-service portal, Slavic ERG’s support for IRCO’s 50th anniversary gala, interview panel training, Cascadia planning, World Elder Abuse Day, Pride Month and Juneteenth reflections. 4Minutes4U:Nothing this week Deadline: ODHS: 2:30 June 23: World Refugee Day celebration June 30: Inclusive Hiring Advocates Information Session July 7 and Tuesdays through July: ADA anniversary webinars Fact of the Week:NONE Dateline: ODHS: (4:12) OIS self-service portal launched June 15 Slavic ERG supported IRCO’s 50th anniversary gala Interview panel training required in Workday Cascadia planning for coastal response World Elder Abuse Day Pride Month message Juneteenth message and reflection Writer’s Round-Up: Eastward Ho! ( 8:15)

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Catch up on this week's news from Discover and listen to interviews of staff from around the state.

Information

  • Creator
    Oregon Department of Human Services
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    110
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Oregon Department of Human Services
  • Show Website
    Sometimes a Great Podcast