Episode #13
SAGPodcast: Dallas, Transformation via Collaboration in Dallas: Part I
Season 2, Episode 13: August 19, 2026 Length: 27:18 This week, The Big Picture comes from the Dallas ODHS office for the first half of a two-part conversation about collaboration, transformation, and what it looks like when Self-Sufficiency Programs and Child Welfare work together around the same families. We sit down with staff from both programs. From Self-Sufficiency, Lisa Heath joins as operations manager, along with family coaches Ray Scott and Kim Morgan, and program manager Dawn Myers. From Child Welfare, we hear from Lorelle Gould, CPS supervisor and recovery court supervisor, and Amber McClelland, Child Welfare program manager. In this first half, the group talks about how Dallas built relationships across programs before collaboration became a formal transformation goal. For some staff, “transformation” is less about a new initiative and more about recognizing work they have already been doing: coming together, sharing what they can, and making sure families do not experience ODHS as a set of disconnected doors. The conversation also looks at the real barriers that still exist, including privacy rules, program roles, and limits on what information can be shared. Staff explain how trust, relationships, shared space, and clear roles help them keep families at the center even when the systems around them are still complicated. In the end, this first half is about how collaboration becomes real before it becomes formal. In Dallas, that means staff know who to go to, what questions to ask, and how to work through barriers so families can experience ODHS less as separate programs and more as one connected source of support in… The Big Picture. CreditsHost: Dr. Bethany Grace Howe, CommunicationsProduced by: Dr. Bethany Grace HoweContact: bethany.g.howe@odhs.oregon.gov
