From Jeff Knight, on behalf of Rick Sizemore, Wilson Workforce and Rehabilitation Center:

My name is Jeff Knight, and I work with Rick Sizemore, Director of the Wilson Workforce and Rehabilitation Center in Fishersville, Virginia. Mr. Sizemore received your recent inquiry regarding social media policy, and asked me to share some information that I had pulled together as part of a recent leadership development group project on communication and working in a digital environment. Below is an outline showing Virginia’s overarching policy and some resources that may be helpful in future planning. One thing that became clear in pulling together this information is the intensity of the challenge to keep up, from a policy perspective, with the rapidly evolving technology and shifting channels for communication.

In a separate email, you will find links and attachments for each of the items noted below. In addition, there will be a link for the presentation (Prezi format) for this group project addressing social media trends and communicating in a digital environment.

Thank you, and the best of luck with your exciting efforts to expand Rhode Island Vocational Rehabilitation services’ digital presence.

Sincerely,
Jeff Knight, MS
Lead Vocational Evaluator, WWRC

I. Commonwealth of Virginia, current policy and guidance documents:
A. Department of Human Resource Management (DHRM) Policy 1.75: Use of Internet and Electronic Communication Systems
This was effective 2001 and then revised in 2011.

B. Enterprise Technical Architecture, Social Media Topic Report, Networking & Telecommunications Domain; Commonwealth of Virginia Information Technology Resource Management (ITRM), Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA); 2015

“This report addresses the social media topic of the Enterprise Technical Architecture (ETA) Networking & Telecommunication Domain Report. This report describes technical topics such as wikis, blogs, mash ups, web feeds (such as Really Simple Syndication [RSS] feeds1), moderated discussion tools, social networking sites and virtual worlds.”

II. Disability Services Agencies’ Policy

A. Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services’ (DARS) Facebook page; Consumer Use Policy located on the Facebook page under “General Information”

B. CRC Code of Ethics, Section J: TECHNOLOGY, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND DISTANCE COUNSELING

III. Looking Forward: The CY 2017 Update to the Commonwealth Strategic Plan for Information Technology for 2017 – 2022
A. Social Media initially was a technology trend in the 2017 – 2022 ITSP. Due to the proliferation of VA state agencies having a social media presence social media no longer considered new trend:

“…Commonwealth agencies now instinctively realize the effectiveness of leveraging social media to improve transparency in government, increase collaboration, and encourage communication among the state workforce and citizenry. Ultimately, social media capability leads the charge to improve citizen access to critical information that agencies frequently update and provide.”

B. In this most recent strategic plan, social media has been moved under the Salient Technology Trend of Digital Government/Internet of Things.

“Goal is to develop a comprehensive strategy and foundation…that
• leverages the ubiquitous availability of mobile devices and “apps,”
• supports data sharing
• incorporates the internet of things (IoT) to enhance and expand citizen services, ensure governance and security compliance, gain greater agency productivity within agencies, and increase the attractiveness of Commonwealth employment to younger workers.”

IV. Additional valuable resource: NASCIO Issue Brief- June 2013: Examining State Social Media Policies: Closing the Gaps

“the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 association representing state chief information officers and information technology executives and managers from the states, territories, and the District of Columbia.”

A. Recommendations included:
• “…states should consider amending or adopting broader social media policies ad-dressing issues such as amending privacy policies and terms of use to reflect use of social media”
• “…encourages states to include in their policies essential language to protect states and employees”

B. This publication included a comprehensive SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY ISSUES CHECKLIST that could be a useful resource.

Attachments: Not received.

From Douglas Morton, Illinois Division of Rehabilitation Services:

Access to Facebook and other social media sites is controlled by our state’s department of technology. We cannot post directly and do not have a separate page devoted to VR. Our usage of social media has been limited to date.

From Kellie Scott, KY-OVR:

Yes we have a Facebook page. You can see us at https://www.facebook.com/KYOVRpage/. When we had a Director of Public Relations all posts went through him. Now that we no longer have that position all postings and responses go through me. We just want to keep it ethical and tasteful. BTW, we also have it set up for Facebook to let us know if someone else mentions us on their facebook page.

From Robin Brandt, Oregon Vocational Rehabilitation:

I’ve been collecting information about this. I have a journal article, some other publications on use, and the agency under which Oregon VR sits has a policy I can share. I can send in a separate email since I can’t attach them here. I will send to the email above and the one below since it’s not clear which is preferred.

Attachments: 1

From Michael MacKillop, WA-Blind DSB:

I will be forwarding our 2015 agency policy for social media. The statement about Facebook within it needs to be updated, as we have since launched an agency Facebook page, which is locked down to comments. While that likely holds the most interest for you, I figured the other aspects of the policy may be useful.

Attachments: 1

From Brian Hickman, WY Division of Vocational Rehabilitation:

WY does have a Facebook page. I have sent a copy of the agency’s policy to the Summit Group.

Attachments: 1

From Graham Porell, Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission:

Our agency has a Facebook page and Twitter account. We don’t have a policy related to Facebook and Social Media at this time.

Posted in: Social Media