The director of the Department of Human Services is recommending a reorganization of the department’s structure. Spokesman Roger Munns says Charles Krogmeier has been working on the proposal and talking with employees in recent weeks. Munns says Krogmeier is proposing reducing the number of regional offices from eight to five and the nine central office administrative divisions to six.
He says the move is driven by several things, with the most important being the financial pinch on the state. Munns says the regional offices are currently in Des Moines, Davenport, Dubuque, Ames, Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Waterloo, and Cedar Rapids, and will be cut by three.
Munns says there will be positions cut in the regional offices and the central office. He says some in the offices that are cut will move to other offices, so he doesn’t know how many positions will be cut. Munns says the director is first laying out the plan for restructuring before naming the positions that will be cut. Munns says the re-organization will look to keep the front-line services intact.
He says the 99 county offices will still be there and the people that qualify for benefits will receive those benefits. Munns says caseloads are skyrocketing, so there may be delays in services, but people will get their benefits. D.H.S. is Iowas largest department, employing about 5,700 people.