Press Release

Oakland County Receives Twelve National Awards from NACo

Pontiac, MI July 11, 2008 Oakland County Government programs have garnered seven 2008 Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo).

The Human Resources Department won for two programs:  Compassion Fatigue Training and Inter-local Training Collaboration.  The first program is designed to introduce participants to the concept of compassion fatigue and how it impacts individual effectiveness in treating clients.  In the second award- winning program, local municipalities were given course descriptions, including duration and potential cost per participant to attend the training sessions.  A survey was included which asked local officials to rate their employees skill needs and interest in attending each course.

The Central Services department earned a NACo award for its Patrol Car Purchasing Program.  Over the past 30 months, the Support Services Division will remove 100 Crown Victorias from service and replace them with Chevrolet Impalas.  The change will save the county about $3,000 per vehicle overall and $1,800 in fuel costs.

The Health Division was honored for its Crib Notes program which provides education to middle school students in the Pontiac School District to encourage healthy bodies/healthy choices.  Its also designed to increase awareness about risk factors that contribute to infant mortality.

The Information Technology department was recognized for its Oakland County Podcasts which cover various topics including new services, programs, seasonal activities and special events.  The primary goal of the podcasts, which are digital recordings on the internet, is to tell the public something they may not know about in an interesting and conversational way.

I.T. also earned a NACo award for its e-Gov Sharing Network which contains links, collections of resources, pre-set categories, an ongoing column that discusses current events and regional sharing and e-Government collaboration.

The Sheriffs Departments Re-CYCLE for Kids Project was selected for an achievement award.  This program takes unclaimed bicycles, repairs them and donates them to charitable organizations.

Oakland County received a NACo award for the Financing Healthcare for Oakland County Retirees effort.  In 2007, the county issued Certificates of Participation which are similar to bonds and deposited the proceeds into a trust fund to completely fund retirees healthcare in future years.  The present value of the benefits is between $100 million and $150 million over the 30 year amortization of the previously unfunded liability. Oakland County is believed to be the only county in America to have fully funded retiree healthcare.

The Land Use Curriculum project, a joint partnership between Oakland County and Oakland Schools, garnered an achievement award as well.  The program is designed to provide innovative land use planning education to middle school students.

The Clerk/Register of Deeds office won three NACo awards for its Project V.O.T.E, Fraud Check and Court Explorer programs.

These awards signify Oakland Countys continuing commitment to developing and implementing programs that benefit our citizens, said Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson.  Im proud of all our employees who labor everyday to make Oakland County one of Americas leading governmental organizations.

For media inquiries only, please contact Bob Dustman, Media and Communications Officer, at (248) 858-1048.

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