VII. Mail and shipping
05/07/2018
Opening the mail.
Because mail received in the local offices may contain items such as cash,
checks, or money orders, two individuals will be present to open incoming mail.
The employees who open the mail will record all money received in the Mail Log
(see B. below).
Suspicious mail.
Please see the DHS intranet for information
on identifying and responding to suspicious mail.
Mailing sensitive material.
Occasionally, the local office needs to mail protected or sensitive material.
If so, the material must be sent with a tracking number.
·
When sending or receiving a consumer file,
make a note in Oregon ACCESS;
·
If an expected file does not arrive as
anticipated, use the tracking number to check its status.
Sending mail to Central Office. The address for the Human Services Building (HSB) is:
Aging
and People with Disabilities
Department
of Human Services
500
Summer Street NE
Salem OR 97301-1073
To locate the appropriate E number
(routing number), please see the DHS Mail Tools E codes guide.
Follow the United States Postal
Service (USPS) restrictions for regular mail.
Addressing for success. Please
use the following guidelines as set by the U.S. Postal Service to ensure proper
mail delivery and handling and to qualify for postage discounts.
Please review USPS addressing guidelines,
which include:
·
Use two-letter state and geographic abbreviations;
·
Use a Post Office box or a street address, not
both;
·
Use Zip+4 codes;
·
Print the delivery and return addresses on the
same side of the envelope parallel to the longest side.
C.
Postage meters – state offices only
There is only one mail machine per
DHS or OHA office for use by all programs. Postage meter machines are purchased
for new offices, or for replacement of non-repairable machines. All new or
replacement machines must be approved by the division, the program management,
and facilities management. The purchase of new equipment is not a common
occurrence.
- The purchase or replacement of non-repairable postage meter machines may be a shared cost if the office is co-housed with other programs;
- Sizing of machines is per the recommendation of the Office of Contracts and Procurement (OC&P) based on number of staff and actual number of letters sent per month.
Monthly meter rent.
Monthly meter rent is paid by Facilities from a DHS-wide consolidated statement
received quarterly by OCP and approved for budget expense by Facilities
management.
Postage dollars. Actual postage dollars for the machines is the expense of the field offices. To request more funds for the postage meter, please complete the DHS Check Request Form for Postage Replenishment. Send requests with the completed form to OFS.INVOICES@fhdohs.state.or.us. Please allow ten (10) to fifteen (15) working days for availability of funds.
Postage tapes and ink cartridges. Postage tapes and ink cartridges are the expense of the
field offices and may be purchased from individual service dealers. Upon
receipt of supplies, verify receipt of everything ordered on the packing slip.
Repairs. Repairs to
mail machines are performed by one of four authorized dealers based on zip code
location. The repair charges are usually covered by Facilities. The work ticket
and invoices are sent to OC&P Purchasing.
D.
Post office boxes– state offices only
Post office boxes are not recommended when mail can be delivered to the street address of the local office. If mail cannot be delivered to the local office, select the box size at the local post office and complete any paper work required. To make a payment to the post office, the field office may use its SPOTS Visa card.
Post office box renewals. The post
office will send a renewal notice to the field office. Upon receipt of this
notice, payment may be made with the SPOTS Visa card.
The state mail shuttle service is
operated by the Department of Administrative Services (DAS). The shuttle serves
offices in the Portland-metro area and the I-5 corridor from Eugene north.
Before sending something on the DAS Shuttle Service, check the shuttle stops and schedule. The shuttle does not serve all DHS/OHA
offices. Senders must provide a street address; the shuttle does not deliver to
PO boxes.
Interagency mail. The schedule to delivery interagency mail delivery depends on where the mail
originates and where it is going. Mail is sorted immediately when it arrives at
DHS Publications. If its destination is to an office or mailroom which
receives a delivery after that time, the mail will go out the same day.
Every shuttle pick-up spot has mail
tubs clearly marked to distinguish between USPS mail and interagency mail.
Interagency mail and USPS mail must be separated for delivery because they are
handled separately.