VII. Mail and shipping

10/11/2019

A. Office mail procedures

Opening the mail. Because mail received in the local offices may contain items such as cash, checks, or money orders, two individuals should 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. Protected or sensitive material is 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 expected, 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.

B. USPS

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. The division, program management, and facilities management approves new or replacement machines. 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. Facilities pays the monthly meter rent 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. 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. Authorized dealers repair mail machines based on zip code location; Facilities usually cover the cost. Send the work ticket and invoices to OC&P Purchasing.

D. Post office boxes– state offices only

Post office boxes are not recommended if 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; state use Visa cards can be used for payment.

E. State shuttle

The state interagency 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. The shuttle does not serve all DHS/OHA offices.

For guidelines and information, please review the shuttle website.