Friday Photo: Picture-Perfect Park

Photo by William Dunigan

Escape with this picture-perfect photo of Ramona Grasslands County Preserve. The 3,521-acre preserve is popular with hikers, cyclists, equestrians and photographers. Take a fun virtual hike of Ramona Grasslands from your desk (or couch if you are working from home).

Share your fabulous photos! If you see a coworker getting the job done, a beautiful sunset over your office or wonderful County program being offered—snap a pic and submit it. Be sure to include information about the photo and your name. One image will be posted to InSite every Friday.

See the Friday Photo gallery.

Update for May 19

Message from Helen Robbins-Meyer, Chief Administrative Officer

It’s the time of year we celebrate one of life’s big milestones: graduation. From high schools, college, or other levels of education. I know it’s a huge disappointment to grads – and the families that helped get them there – that it’s happening this year without all the pomp and circumstance. That shouldn’t in any way dampen the sense of achievement everyone feels. If anything, getting to that finish line with all the recent hurdles makes it all the more impressive.

In a normal year, they’d be listening to commencement speeches telling them how life will bring many challenges and about the need for persistence and determination. This year, we’re all living those words.

And they always talk about looking forward. We’re in a rough time, and we still have a difficult road ahead, but we will get through. What you’ve shown in responding to this crisis gives me great hope for the future.

I hope you’ll join me in offering congratulations to all of the grads out there, and that includes those in our County family – our student workers and those pursuing degrees on top of their job. It’s an immense accomplishment. If the moment comes without some of the traditional hoopla, it still deserves our recognition and should be a source of tremendous pride. 

New Version of Adobe Acrobat Being Pushed to All County Computers

All County staff will have their computers updated with Adobe Acrobat Pro DC automatically. The update is required due to licensing requirements by Adobe.

The County Technology Office (CTO) will be automatically forcing the installation on the following dates:

• Land Use and Environment Group – May 16

• Finance and General Government – May 20

• Health and Human Services Agency – May 23

(The update was already pushed out to Public Safety Group employees.)

Installation Process

No reboot will be required and the install will happen automatically in the background. The process can take up to 30 minutes depending on network speed. You may be prompted to close any office application such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook as well as your existing installation of Adobe Acrobat. If you’re not present, these applications will be closed automatically. 

How to Use

Adobe Acrobat and its use will not change much. The only notable change is a new requirement to log in to the application in order to use it. Here’s how:

• Shortly after opening the application, users will be prompted for credentials with an Adobe login screen. Follow the relevant prompts and be sure to click the option to sign in with an enterprise ID.

• Your credentials will be your full County email address. 

• No password should be required if you’re already logged into the device with your County credentials.

• You may be prompted with an Oracle Access Manager login screen as well.  If so, please login with your County computer USERNAME and PASSWORD.

Once authenticated, the application will function as normal and you shouldn’t be prompted again for at least another 99 days.

For specific instructions on the new Adobe Logins, please see this detailed document.

Sign-in System Goes Touch-free

Employees are assigned a QR code that you can pull up on your phone or print and add to the back of your badge as seen here.

Normally when the Emergency Operations Center activates, there is a sheet for staff to sign in and out. Everyone touches the same clipboard, paper and pen. That’s something to avoid during the current COVID-19 emergency, since it is a way to spread the virus, even with the use of hand sanitizer. 

The infection risk became apparent to Office of Emergency Services (OES) Assistant Director Stephen Rea and Public Safety Group IT Manager Darius Fattahipour. They brainstormed with OES staff and came up with an innovative idea to deploy GOVbox, a touchless kiosk normally used to provide services to the public. In this case, they adapted it for employees reporting for essential duties. Staff scan a QR code to log in and out at the EOC and two other facilities. Employees working remotely can use the system by logging into a website as well.

“This is a perfect solution for a virtual Emergency Operations Center. It’s great example of the adaptability of County staff and County-developed technology being leveraged for purposes never considered,” said Rea. 

The system doesn’t replace Kronos, but it allows people to know who is on duty and where they’re working. The system connects with Microsoft Teams, so people working in the EOC can look up people by name or section, see if they are working and where and then message them as needed.

Another feature is that GovBox sends text or email health checks to employees. They need to reply to a short questionnaire, asking if they have been in close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 patient within the past 14 days; whether they have had a fever of 100 degrees or more, and if they have a cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing or a sore throat.

Fattahipour said they were able to quickly reconfigure kiosks on hand, and the County will look at bringing the system to more worksites. The project has been co-sponsored by the Public Safety Group, Child Support Services, and the joint County Technology Office-Perspecta Innovation Program. 

Connected County: New Duties

Many of us continue to work from home or other work locations during the fight against COVID-19. In this video, we check-in with Senior HR Analyst Jessica Carlson. See how she is creatively working to provide services.

Reopening County Facilities

Message from Helen Robbins-Meyer, Chief Administrative Officer

With encouraging trends continuing in our fight against COVID-19, you’ve seen the careful reopening of certain businesses recently. Yesterday, Gov. Newsom added office-based businesses to the list. I’m happy to tell you that includes us.

The County will begin the safe reopening of offices this Friday, May 15. That will be a gradual process taking place over weeks, with different timelines and unique circumstances for each department. Many of you will continue teleworking for now. Please don’t report to an office until your supervisor tells you to do so.

Let me emphasize safe reopening. Protecting your health remains a top priority. When you return, we’ll have temperature and/or symptom screenings at all of our facilities. We’ve added new sanitation procedures at all worksites. We’ll provide personal protective equipment appropriate to your duties as needed. Workstations may be changed to ensure social distancing. You’ll see the same Safe Reopening Plan we’ve required of businesses posted at our offices.

The way we operate will continue to look different for a while. And make no mistake – reopening will have challenges of its own. But this is a huge step in a welcome direction. It’s been nearly two months since we started closing our doors, and I’m thrilled to start inviting the people we serve back.

A big thank-you to those who have been working hard on the plans to reopen. And my appreciation to all of you for hanging tough through this trying time and everything you’ve done to get us to this milestone.

Recognizing Our Nurses

In honor of National Nurses Week, The Knowledge Center at Health and Human Services Agency created a heartfelt thanks to County nurses.

Update for May 11

Message from Helen Robbins-Meyer, Chief Administrative Officer

I’ve mentioned before in these mails that living with the restrictions of the stay-home orders, plus all the changes we’ve had at work, can cause a huge emotional strain. The situation can cause anxiety, stress and depression.

Those are normal reactions. That’s an important message we try to get out every May, which is Mental Health Month, but it’s really worth driving home this year. These are trying times, and it’s perfectly understandable if the circumstances are weighing on you or people you know.

Also part of that message is that being a normal reaction doesn’t mean you just live with it. Breaking a bone isn’t unusual, but of course you get it treated. Mental health is health. It’s not just acceptable, but encouraged to get help coping.

Early in this crisis, we realized mental health was a key element of our response, and our Behavioral Health Services put together resources for the public. Share those with anyone you know who may need them. The County Administration Center lighting will be green this week to help boost awareness of mental health.  

I’ve given reminders about our Employee Assistance Program in these updates, but it’s worth repeating. EAP makes free, confidential counseling available to all employees and their family members. Please take advantage of the program if you need it. Visit the website or call 888-777-6665. 

And continue to look out for each other. Your friends, your family, your co-workers. You don’t have to wait until there’s a sign someone’s having trouble. Check in, see how people are doing. We’re in this together, and we’ll get through by helping each other along.

8 Ways to Stay Cyber Safe While Teleworking

By Todd Hood, Chief Privacy Officer

In a matter of days, where and how we work changed. Thousands of County employees are teleworking. Laptops, desktops, phones and apps and software have all paved the way for us to work from home – thank you County Technology Office!

While we have leveraged technology to work from home, wrong-doers leverage technology during crises to access computer systems and obtain valuable information. Now is a good time to remember how to stay “cyber safe” and avoid unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of confidential or personal information.

County employees are entrusted with a wide variety of information about others: Social Security numbers, dates of birth, protected health information, non-public personal financial information and the list goes on. Personal information and data become more important and valuable each year.

Teleworking and remote access to the network requires diligence by each of us to safeguard our data, our systems and our network. Please ensure that you continue to comply with practices stated in County of San Diego policies (see links at end).

Here are eight key precautions to stay cyber safe when teleworking:

• Your password is good for one thing: logging on to your County account. Never share it. Never reveal it. No legitimate person, email, website or form will ever ask for or need it—the cyberworld, however, is full malicious and clever actors who will try and fool you into coughing it up. Do not be fooled.

• Similarly, be cautious about even clicking on unknown links or attachments presented in unsolicited emails. When in doubt, report them using the new “Phishing” button in your toolbar.  That will send it straight to our security team and deletes it from your mailbox.

• Never reuse your County password for any other home or personal accounts. Mix it up.

• Never send work-related emails to your personal email accounts.

• Do not write/store passwords on or near your computer.

• Always use Pulse Secure VPN, NetMotion VPN or the Akamai service when accessing the County network remotely to reach business applications.

• Do not store confidential County of San Diego information on unencrypted devices, such as flash drives or home computers.

• Secure paper documents that contain personal information and all County assets (such as laptops, tablets, smartphones, and flash drives) with you at all times.

If you have concerns about safeguarding confidential or personal information while teleworking, please review the policies below; contact the County Technology Office for electronic concerns at 619-531-5570 or CTO.Feedback@sdcounty.ca.gov ; or contact the Office of Ethics and Compliance for non-technology concerns at 619-531-5714 or OEC@sdcounty.ca.gov.

HHSA users can refer to Safeguarding Protected Information - Procedure L-26 and contact the Agency Compliance Office at 619-338-2808 or PrivacyOfficer.HHSA@SDCounty.ca.gov with questions.

You can also report concerns anonymously to the Ethics Hotline at 866-549-0004.

County Admin Manual Policies

• Email; Verbal Communications; Voice Mail

• Internet Use

• Passwords - Management and Use

• Workstation - Use and Security

• Remote Access to County Network

• County Information - Classification, Protection Level, and Proper Security

Update for May 8

Message from Helen Robbins-Meyer, Chief Administrative Officer

Some businesses that have been shut can start opening their doors again today, including florists – just in time for Mother’s Day!

I want to recognize some of the special challenges moms have had during this time. (To be sure, anyone in a parenting role, but it’s Mother’s Day weekend.) Many are having to juggle working from home with child care, since schools are closed. They’re acting as part-time teaching assistants to help kids with remote classes. A lot of the places they’d take kids for a break, like parks, were not options until more recently. Raising kids anytime is a big job, and it’s been tougher lately. Hats off to anyone handling it all. 

Unfortunately, like the springtime holidays we had last month, Mother’s Day has to be different this year. No heading out for brunch or getting extended family members together. Though we’re easing up on some outdoor activities and businesses, gatherings with anyone outside your household are still off limits. Unless you live with your mom, you need to keep your celebration to phone or video calls.

I know it’s hard, but reducing the chance of transmitting the coronavirus is the best gift you can give. Especially if your mother is older, which puts her at higher risk. As we see things start to reopen, we can’t get ahead of the precautions that still need to be in place.

So my best wishes to all mothers in our workforce, and I hope you celebrate the mothers in your life, but please do so safely. Thanks for all you’re doing to protect the public’s health.