2004 Exemplary Service Award Recipients Honored

King County Executive Ron Sims congratulates recipients of the 2004 King County Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Exemplary Service Awards. From left: Ann McGettigan, Chemical Dependency Program and Project NEON, Seattle Counseling Service - Systems Integration; Darcel Slovek, Transitional Resources, Beth Hammonds and David Johnson, Highline-West Seattle Mental Health Center, Expanding Community Services - Advocacy; Jessica Benet, Criminal Justice Initiatives Project, Seattle Mental Health - Service Innovation; Executive Sims; and Victor Vander Beng Hui Loo, Washington Asian Pacific Islander Families Against Substance Abuse - Direct Service. (Enlarge view of photo - 144KB)

King County Executive Ron Sims joined nearly 100 members of the mental health and substance abuse communities at a special ceremony held September 28, 2004 to present the 2004 King County Mental Health and Substance Abuse Exemplary Service Awards. The annual awards celebration, now in its sixth year, recognizes exceptional leadership and achievement in service provision and advocacy on behalf of people with mental illness and alcohol/drug dependency.

"Each of the individuals and programs honored this year showed courage, commitment, and creativity in crafting innovations in service delivery and breaking down barriers to care for people with mental illness and substance abuse,” said Sims. “They demonstrate the dedication of service providers across King County who work every day to improve the quality of our regional services systems and promote recovery as an achievable goal.”

In recognition of the work of providers, advocates and family members, Executive Sims proclaimed the week of September 26, 2004-October 2, 2004 as “Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Awareness Week in King County.”

Individuals and programs were nominated by the community for recognition in four established categories and selected by a review committee. The honorees for 2004 are:

• Advocacy:
  Expanding Community Services, Highline-West Seattle Mental Health Center and Transitional Resources. An innovative program that has successfully moved 30 people from Western State Hospital - many of whom lived their entire adult lives there - and brought them back to the community where, for the first time in decades, they’ve reconnected with their families, are living independently and are finding jobs. The success of the program is based on the energy and commitment of the agencies involved, the case managers assigned to the program, and the courage of the clients willing to stretch in new ways. In its first year alone, this program has saved over $2 million in hospital costs.
• Direct Service:
  Victor Vander Beng Hui Loo, Washington Asian Pacific Islander Families Against Substance Abuse (WAPIFASA). A dedicated case manager who saw a critical need for culturally competent services for Asian and Pacific Islander youth struggling with drugs and alcohol and, with dedication and commitment to his community, created individualized services to help these at-risk youth overcome their addictions, believe in themselves, and build healthier lives and futures.
• Service Innovation:
  Jessica Benet, Criminal Justice Initiatives Project, Seattle Mental Health. As a member of the new criminal justice initiatives team, this talented and committed jail liaison worked to design, from scratch, a new discharge planning model that has effectively connected hundreds of offenders in the King County jail with the mental health and substance abuse treatment and other supports they needed to successfully transition back to their communities upon release.
• Systems Integration:
  Chemical Dependency Program and Project NEON, Seattle Counseling Service. An innovative continuum of services to help people addicted to crystal methamphetamine that combines harm reduction, mental health, and chemical dependency treatment in one smooth, seamless program specially designed to be culturally relevant to the agency’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender clients.