About EOHHS

Under state law, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) serves as “the principal agency of the executive branch of state government” (R.I.G.L. §42-7.2-2) responsible for managing the departments of: Health (RIDOH); Human Services (DHS); Office of Healthy Aging (OHA); Office of Veterans Services (VETS); Children, Youth and Families (DCYF); and Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH). EOHHS is also designated as the single State agency to administer the Medicaid program in Rhode Island. 

Last year, these agencies provided direct services to nearly 306,000 Rhode Islanders as well as an array of regulatory, protective and health promotion services to our communities. Health and human services benefits represent $3.1 billion spending per year, or over 40 percent of the entire state budget.  

Mission:

Our mission at EOHHS is to foster and strengthen a community-driven, equitable, comprehensive, responsive, and high-quality health and human services system in Rhode Island.

Vision:

EOHHS envisions resilient, equitable, and just communities nurturing the health, safety, wellbeing, and independence of all Rhode Islanders.

Core Values:

  • Voice: Ensure that the voices of our communities are heard and respected without assuming we know what is best. Intentionally involve community members in programs and policies from the onset and purposefully ask “what is needed?” throughout the process. Create a new balance of power by committing to transparency, accountability, and partnerships.
  • Choice: The needs and aspirations of individuals, families, and community are heard, valued, and respected. The whole person, the family unit, and the community in which they live are recognized. Policies and systems have options that allow people to exercise choice and make healthy decisions.
  • Equity:  Ensuring that all Rhode Islanders have the resources and opportunity to achieve their full potential. Meeting the needs of all people regardless of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, age, and disability status. Asking “what role, if any, is race, racial discrimination, and social injustice playing in our decision making?

Strategic Priorities:

  1. Focus on the Root Causes and the Socioeconomic and Environmental Determinants of Health That Ensure Individuals Can Achieve Their Full Potential.
  2. Promote Continuums of Care That Can Deliver Efficient, Effective, and Equitable Services Across the Life Course.
  3. Address Addiction, Improve the Behavioral Health System, and Combat Stigma, Bias, and Discrimination.
  4. Develop and Support a Robust and Diverse Health and Human Services Workforce to Meet the Need of Every Rhode Islander.
  5. Modernize, Integrate, and Transform Health Information Technology, Data Systems, and Overall Operations to Support Value-Based Systems of Care.