my name is Sara Smith. I'm the unit
Manager at the Missouri Child Abuse and
Neglect Hotline that's housed in the
Department of Social Services Children's
Division. The main base is located in
Jefferson City, Missouri. I've been with
Children's Division since 2006. One piece
that I really liked about the Missouri
Way as it brought different divisions
together to have a conversation about
different things that were experiencing
and get to trade ideas and hear
about just transformation as a whole in
state government. There are so many
different roles and important aspects
that people provide to the public and so
that's kind of what we're working with
staff on here is knowing your role but
also knowing your role in a larger part
as part of Missouri government. It's
important for DSS team members to
participate in the Missouri Way to have
an opportunity to collaborate with
others in state government to learn what
other agencies are doing. For example we
have the Child Abuse and Neglect
Hotline intakes several thousand
calls. And part of the Missouri Way
program was Department of Revenue giving a presentation about their call center
and the increases in customer
service that they've done over the last
few months and last year. So that
gives us an opportunity to meet with
them.  There have been several videos that
we were given at the Missouri Way that
just were very insightful that I've had
the opportunity to share here at the
office. I hear comments and
discussions about them throughout all
levels of staff here and so it's really
exciting to see that at work kind of
trickling through our local office. The
Missouri Way is inspired me to be a
better leader.
I really feel and even before going to
the program that there's a difference
between a supervisor and a leader.  A
leader would be someone that is able to
inspire change. And we have a large
office here, probably not as large as
others, but 79 people at the Hotline and
so I want them to stay. I want them to
feel that they're making a difference
and so I feel like leadership is a very
important aspect of that.
The time that I spent at the
Missouri Way was very valuable because
it allowed me to make contacts at
several different other divisions within
the Department of Social Services. And
sometimes we intertwine and overlap.
And the day that Governor Parson came and
spoke to us about the importance of
infrastructure and workforce development
its key to having those contacts in
other divisions and so I feel more
comfortable reaching out to them and
have a better understanding of what
services they can provide...
