Published: March 8, 2018

Fellow SEIU 503 members,

I want to thank you. Since 2016 the background check unit at DHS, where I work, has taken about six to eight weeks to process a background check. Understaffing and high workloads have led to a backlog. I’m so happy that our union pulled together to do something about it.

This weekend the legislature approved a plan to hire 33 new positions in our unit! This will bring processing time down to two weeks by December, with the ultimate goal of getting the time down to just 48 hours for simple requests. It will take a few months to get up to speed, but improvements are coming.

What this means: No more hiring delays at DHS. No more lost wages while care providers and personal support workers wait on our unit. No more Oregonians who can’t access needed services while a worker waits to get cleared.

This is a big win, and it was a real team effort.

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Again, I want to thank my coworkers and SEIU members in other parts of the union who pulled together to make this happen. Many of you contacted your legislators and asked for a fix. They listened.

It’s great to see us pull together and get a win that will help so many members.

In Unity,

Davalee Meade
SEIU 503 member at DHS, Salem