Butler County JFS Government Director Invoice Morrison leaving company in sturdy form after his retirement

“He reaffirmed our commitment to our mission, expanding our strategies and program to enable us to serve more individuals and use federal dollars to improve our programs,” said Gilbert.

“He’s also developed our leadership. He’s someone who created an environment that encouraged sharing of ideas, building relationships and working together.”

Morrison has worn many hats in the county social service world and took his first job in 2005 as a family team leader. He was appointed ombudsman in 2006 before later serving as deputy director, and he was appointed director of the Children’s Service in 2015. A series The Number of Events catapulted him to the top of the agency as a whole in July 2017.

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It wasn’t an easy task. Children Services saw a painful and protracted trade union dispute in 2014 that included a 14-day social worker strike. At the same time, the agency was dealing with a $ 4 million budget hole and a complete overhaul of its operations.

The public support side was also afraid, as government evaluations put the agency at risk of falling below standards and required a continuous improvement plan before Morrison took over the helm. The final review by government management showed that the work samples examined were completely free of errors.

Morrison, who had little experience of publicly supporting the operation, also overhauled and streamlined these systems. He has also introduced all-round programs so that someone who receives grocery stamps, for example, can be connected to other services.

Morrison has spent his entire career – retiring from Kentucky’s state child welfare system before coming here – in childcare. Former district administrator Charlie Young, who recommended commissioners promote Morrison, said Morrison had already demonstrated his passion and expertise in arguably one of the most important functions of the district government, child safety. His leadership skills have also been transferred to the other areas of social service, he said.

“What was wonderful was the great ability to listen to employees in areas where he didn’t have tremendous personal experience and to help these employees, often very talented employees, solve their problems and come up with solutions, many of them very innovative are in areas where Bill himself may not innovate, ”said Young.

During his tenure, Morrison introduced or reintroduced several programs such as the Family Preservation Program. It used to be handled internally but closed due to budget cuts. By outsourcing the program, Morrison was able to use Medicaid dollars to pay for it. He also outsourced the family visits program, turning them into therapeutic get-togethers between children and their families so that Medicaid could be unlocked.

When the heroin epidemic hit the country a few years ago and the number of BCCS in custody rose to over 500, Morrison and juvenile court administrator Rob Clevenger launched the defunct Family Drug Treatment Court.

“In my eyes it’s a legacy of collaboration,” said Morrison. “With all of the changes I’ve made that get 99% of the credit for that, there have always been other people who have been closely involved. They probably had more to do with the success of those programs that I really did.”

Glendon said Morrison had given assurances that programs, policies and procedures he started or restarted could last beyond his employment.

“The biggest lesson many of us learned from Bill is that the most important thing in your career is the impact you have on the people you leave behind. So invest in them,” Glendon said. “So he’s going to have a lasting impact on this community, he’s developed a lot of different programs, he gave us a vision, but it was really all the people he invested in that allowed us to advance that vision every day . “

Commissioner Don Dixon said Morrison did “the best job of retiring” and leaving the agency in prime shape because “Bill’s forte is looking at the administrative side and he’s a great judge of character , Potential and skill sets. “

Morrison said that because he had the financial security of his retirement in Kentucky, he could “boldly apply everything learned in his first career,” and the commissioners helped him every step of the way as he came up with new ideas .

“It’s pretty remarkable that three county commissioners just go along and accept my leadership and believe that it’s probably okay for me to say it’s okay,” said Morrison. “I doubt there are very many JFS directors who have enjoyed my support.”