Check In with Yourself by Checking Your Mood

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Experience some rougher days this summer? Challenges piling on faster than solutions? Are you consistently seeking solitude or feeling down?

All these signs could mean something deeper is happening.

However you are feeling is OK. That is what Check Your Mood Day is all about.

Check Your Mood is one of the County’s annual Live Well San Diego signature events that emphasizes health and wellness.

The annual event is Thursday, Oct. 5 this year in conjunction with National Depression Screening Day.

Employees are encouraged to engage and encourage loved ones and themselves to assess and monitor emotional well-being.

When you go to the doctor for a regular check-up, request an emotional screening from your provider. Just like getting your blood pressure checked, checking your mood allows a doctor to ensure proper care of your entire self.

If you are feeling overwhelmed, anxious or down, some coping strategies are:

  • Mindful Breathing: When you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed, sit down and close your eyes. Breathe in and count to four, then hold for four, breathe out for four and hold for four. Do this four times to try and release those feelings of stress and find clarity.

  • Positive Affirmations: Repeat positive affirmations to yourself, like “I am capable of achieving my goals. I am smart. I am successful. I matter. I am strong. I am brave.”

  • Write It Out: Write what you are grateful for and keep a gratitude journal to look back on. Write down positive affirmations you get from others throughout the week and review them when feeling overwhelmed. Take 10 minutes and free write if you feel your thoughts spiraling. This helps identify, acknowledge, and let go of overwhelming thoughts and re-grounds you.

  • Meditate: Give your mind a break and listen to a guided meditation online or through a self-care app.

  • Get Active: What brings you joy? Yoga? A run? Zumba? Get up and get moving, even small standing stretches can bring you back to the present moment and feel more energized and positive.

For resources and self-administered screenings to Check Your Mood visit CheckYourMoodSD.org. If you need immediate assistance, please call the Access and Crisis Line at (888) 724-7240.

Self Sufficiency Services Passes Audit with Flying Colors

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The County’s Self-Sufficiency Services this month passed an important audit with flying colors. Most County offices can sympathize in the stress an audit brings, from long inventory processes to compliance checks.

This is an important part of our work, tied to the County’s Strategic Initiative of Evaluation and Accountability and value of integrity.

Self Sufficiency Services supports San Diegans who can’t afford healthy, nutritious food, or medical care, or need support growing their career.

One of the essential pieces of their operation is their Document Processing Center where applications and other documents that help validate eligibility for services are received. The week of Sept. 18 they were audited and reported zero findings.

“It is not often that a fairly large division such as the Document Processing Center comes through an audit with zero findings,” said Self-Sufficiency Services Director Richard Wanne, “especially having just recently transitioned to a new eligibility determination system last July. It takes a lot of communication with staff, training, and monitoring for quality and timeline adherence, and I could not be more proud of our team.”

The Document Processing Center opened in 2013 to provide a centralized location to receive customer applications and documents. The center provides support to 13 Family Resource Centers and other support offices across the county, serving more than a million customers. The center receives and registers over 30,000 benefit applications, and almost 500,000 documents monthly. Over the last year, the center imaged more than 5.8 million documents.

The center has a quick turnaround, working diligently to complete tasks within one business day, ensuring vital applications and documents are ready for Human Services Specialists to process and determine customer eligibility.

“This reflects the dedication, commitment, and highly technical knowledge that the center’s staff have,” said Self-Sufficiency Services Deputy Director Adriana Ramirez. “Our staff understand the importance of their role, not only within their assigned group, but as part of the larger Self-Sufficiency Services mission and our impact to our communities.

“Behind every document and application that comes through the Document Processing Center,” Ramirez said, “is a child who needs to see a doctor, a mom who needs help putting food on the table, a disabled individual who might be trying to fend off homelessness. These are fellow San Diegans, our neighbors and friends, who need a little help with the basic life necessities, and our staff have that deeper understanding.”

The auditors told the Self-Sufficiency Services team they will share best practices from the Mission Valley DPC with other centers around the state and perhaps beyond. Congratulations to the Self-Sufficiency Services Document Processing Center team.

Your View: You'll Dig This New Project

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Fallbrook residents will soon see the park they wished for come to life. County officials and community members broke ground Thursday on a new 6.7-acre park.

The new site will feature an all-wheel park or skatepark, shaded picnic and play areas, a multipurpose field, a walking trail, nature trails and separate off-leash zones for small dogs and large dogs.

Share your photos! If you see a coworker getting the job done, a beautiful sunset over your office or a wonderful County program being offered—snap a pic and submit it. One image will be posted to InSite every week and may be shared on social media.

See more of Your View photos.

Take a Hike With the ERGs

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Jazz up your morning with a delightful hike at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.

Join an all-employee resource group Live Well hike on Saturday, Sept. 30. Bring the family and make this Saturday memorable!

For an additional chance to network, there will be an optional brunch at Ki’s Restaurant in Cardiff after the hike.

When: Saturday, Sept. 30, 8:30 a.m.
Where: Meet on the sidewalk at the intersection of Carmel Valley and McGonigle roads in San Diego. Map.

Don’t forget to bring your sunglasses, sunscreen, water and light snacks.

Click here to register.

See the flyer below.

County Building Nominated for Orchid

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Keep your fingers crossed. General Services submitted an entry for the annual Orchids and Onions contest and won a nomination for the Ohio Street Probation building. Now it’s in the running for an Orchid for public architecture.

The San Diego Architectural Foundation presents the prestigious Orchid awards to outstanding buildings, parks or plazas that enhance the beauty of our region.

Onions are the opposite of Orchids, and they are awarded to projects that well, come nowhere near Orchids.

The new Ohio Street Probation facility features modern architecture and a positive, welcoming open interior with plenty of natural light. The building includes a kitchen for cooking classes, a public food pantry and space for community meetings.

The facility is LEED Gold certified for sustainable building construction and design. And Zero Net Energy which means the building produces more energy than it consumes over the course of a year.

The public is invited to weigh in on the Orchids and Onions contest. Voting ends Friday. Winners will be announced at the Orchids and Onions Awards Gala in October.

Meet the OEC Team

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By the Office of Ethics and Compliance

Feeling like something has been missing in your life? Well, we’re back!

Hot off the Press is September’s Know the Code! 

This month’s topic is Meet the OEC Team! The Office of Ethics and Compliance completed a business process reorganization (BPR) in April, and we are rolling out the changes to includes a new Ethics Hotline system and some new faces. 

Get to know OEC all over again and begin with meeting the OEC Team!

All Aboard the Live Well on Wheels

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The Live Well on Wheels (Live WoW) is going on tour! The Live WoW is a mobile resource available to County employees and the public to bring diverse services to the community, on the go. County employees are invited to stop by two upcoming open houses.

You are invited to tour the Live WoW and learn more about the features available for use on Thursday, Oct. 5 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the County Administration Center (in front of the CAC entrance facing Pacific Highway) or Thursday, Oct. 12, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the County Operations Center (at the cul-de-sac off Overland Avenue).

Please share this invitation with your County networks.

If you have any questions, email Lilly Hart at Lilly.Hart@sdcounty.ca.gov.

See the flyer below.

Your View: Registering to Vote

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The Registrar of Voters shared a few photos of the Voter Outreach Team during National Voter Registration Day, which was this week.

Share your photos! If you see a coworker getting the job done, a beautiful sunset over your office or a wonderful County program being offered—snap a pic and submit it. One image will be posted to InSite every week and may be shared on social media.

See more of Your View photos.

Rewind: Equity, Justice, Belonging, and Leadership Discussion Continued

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Watch the Rewind video here.

Did you miss the Employee Resource Group Council’s “Fireside Chat” on equity, justice belonging and leadership on Sept. 19? You can now watch the virtual session on InSite.

The ERG Council’s Fireside Chats are quarterly sessions with County leadership on the secrets to their career success. This quarter, the African American Association of County Employees hosted a lively discussion with Chief Privacy Officer and ADA Title II Coordinator Todd Hood, FG3 Deputy Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer Ebony Shelton, and Public Health Officer Dr. Wilma Wooten, MD, MPH.

Resources discussed in this session included: