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Board pinpoints website, staffing and communications gaps; plans outreach and plain‑language work
Summary
Members highlighted customer‑service gaps: hard‑to‑navigate website, high phone demand at renewal peaks, and inconsistent outreach. Staff described recent improvements and said deeper website redesign, plain‑language messages and expanded social media will require IT work and ongoing communications resources.
Board members and staff discussed administration, customer service and outreach as cross‑cutting items that influence licensing, enforcement and education outcomes. The group identified the website, staffing constraints, inconsistent public communications and the need for more accessible outreach as priority areas for the strategic plan.
Why it matters: licensing, enforcement and education all depend on clear public information. Board members said confusion about the board’s role or about renewal and enforcement processes fuels calls and public frustration.
Key details and staff response: staff noted the board’s public‑information unit and licensing teams have implemented a concierge/status approach to reduce routine call volume and that some customer‑satisfaction metrics have improved. Yvonne Leonard said the public information unit has shifted to a higher‑touch model for many callers and described challenges including seasonal renewal spikes and prior losses of positions: “When budgets came … we lost 19 positions. Seven of those positions were in our call center.” Board members urged clearer automated messaging at time of application or renewal (for example, explain expected processing windows and display links to the application status page). Staff also affirmed pilots for social‑media content, one‑page plain‑language resources, short videos and expanded translated material where appropriate.
Outreach and DEI: the DEI training presented earlier in the session reinforced the board’s aim to expand plain language, multilingual outreach and community engagement. Members suggested short, visually oriented “top‑10” or one‑pager materials to describe the enforcement process, intervention program choices and other recurring topics. Several members also urged research on channels preferred by younger licensees and the feasibility of SMS/text messaging.
Next steps: staff will return with a prioritized outreach plan that includes suggested website fixes, a plain‑language communications template, a social‑media approach tied to target audiences, and options for multilingual and accessible formats.
