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The Community Council
of Greater Dallas
Awards List
Healthy Youth for a Healthy
Future Champion Award
On August 29, 2008, Acting Surgeon General Steven K.
Galson, M.D., M.P.H., presented the Healthy Youth for
a Healthy Future Champion Award to the Dallas Area
Coalition to Prevent Childhood Obesity. The award
recognizes the coalition’s work in promoting physical
activity and fighting childhood obesity. The coalition
is co-sponsored by Children’s Medical Center and the
Community Council of Greater Dallas.
Martha T.
Blaine, Executive Director, Community Council of Greater
Dallas, and Julia Easley, Advocacy Director, Children’s
Medical Center, receive the Healthy Youth for a Healthy Future Champion Award
certificate from Acting Surgeon General Steven K. Galson.
Following the award presentation, Rear Admiral Galson
met with coalition and community leaders for a
Roundtable discussion to discuss childhood obesity
prevention and learn about existing prevention programs
in Dallas. More information about the U. S. Department
of Health and Human Services’ Childhood Overweight and
Obesity Prevention Initiative is available at
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/obesityprevention/.
Alfred P. Sloan Awards
2006 & 2007
When Work Works is a nationwide initiative to highlight the importance of workforce effectiveness and workplace flexibility as strategies to enhance businesses' competitive advantage in the global economy and yield positive business results. When Work Works is a project of Families and Work Institute (FWI) sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in partnership with The Center for Workforce Preparation, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Twiga Foundation.
When Work Works is both a national and community-based initiative. In Phase I (2005), business forums were conducted in 8 communities ( Brooklyn , NY ; Chicago , IL ; Dallas , TX ; Detroit , MI ; Durham , NC ; Long Beach , CA ; Providence , RI ; and Salt Lake City , UT ) to share the research on workplace flexibility as an important component of workplace effectiveness. In these same communities, businesses have applied for, and winners were selected for, the inaugural Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility.
Building on the success of Phase I of the When Work Works initiative, Phase II will extend the number of communities participating in business forums and the Sloan Awards to 16 in 2006 and 24 in 2007. When Work Works will continue to provide a variety of new materials including several research reports based on nationally representative data such as the National Study of Employers and other studies that emanate from the Sloan Centers on Working Families; a business toolkit to guide organizations in implementing flexible work practices; and extensive online materials including case studies on promising practice in workplace flexibility. When Work Works will also provide access to expert speakers on flexibility issues and will continue to recognize employers with outstanding flexibility practices.
Recognition
The When Work Works initiative awards the Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility to companies that have successfully used flexibility to meet both business and employee goals. Using a rigorous methodology that includes employees' views as well as employer practices in its scoring, the Sloan Awards honor organizations that have made real commitments to using workplace flexibility as a tool to enhance business and employees' success. A complete list of winners is available at www.whenworkworks.org. The application process for the Sloan Awards in the 16 participating communities begins in fall 2005. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Workplace Flexibility Initiative is a collaborative effort designed to make workplace flexibility the American standard. It is based on 10 years of research revealing the benefits of workplace flexibility for employers and employees alike. The Foundation funds a variety of projects at the national, state and local levels that coordinate with business, labor, government and advocacy groups to advance flexible work arrangements. 2005 Dallas, TX
Award Winners - Announced on June 9, 2005
Accenture
CareerLink Companies
Center for Housing Resources, Inc.
Community Council of Greater Dallas
Lee Hecht Harrison
McQueary Henry Bowles Troy LLP
Medical City Hospital
Texas Instruments
TravisWolff & Company LLP
Awards Of Excellence in Human Service
The Community Council of Greater Dallas honors excellence by presenting the Award for Excellence in Human Services Programming to an agency and the Distinguished Human Service Professional Award to an individual in alternate years. Nominations are submitted from Community Council member agencies and reviewed by a committee of the board of directors. The most recent winners of these prestigious awards are:
Community Council Honors AVANCE-Dallas with 2004 Human Services Programming Award
The Community Council of Greater Dallas awarded its 2004 Excellence in Human Service Programming Award to the Parenting Education and Early Childhood Development Program of AVANCE-Dallas. The 2004 award honors the outstanding performance of AVANCE's program and its ability to demonstrate quantifiable results as it works to influence positive change and outcomes in participants' quality of life.
AVANCE's program has served over 1,000 low-income, mostly Hispanic families and their children under age three since it began in 1996. The program is designed to promote the parent as the child's first teacher and make the most of the first three years of life for learning and development.
AVANCE's program addresses the needs of the growing Hispanic population and the high drop out rate among Hispanic youth. In 2001-2002, the school attrition rate for Dallas County Hispanic students was 60 percent. In Dallas County, 44 percent of children are Hispanic. There are also more than 73,000 children, ages birth through four years, living in low income families in the County. AVANCE-Dallas serves primarily Hispanic, low-income parents and their young children, birth–age three.
The Parenting Education and Early Childhood Development program is presented in both English and Spanish, depending on the preference of the family. The programs are presented at elementary schools and introduce parents to the schools.
Short-term results for the last three years demonstrate AVANCE has surpassed two outcome goals.
- At least 90 percent of graduating participants scored at least three points higher on a measure of knowledge and child growth and development.
- Upon program completion, at least 93 percent of parent graduates reported reading to their children at least three times a week–30 percent reported reading to their children on a daily basis.
Medium-term results:
- AVANCE child graduates attend school at a significantly higher rate than their non-AVANCE peers.
- They are receiving A's and B's in school.
Long-term results:
- 17-year Reunion Survey in San Antonio showed that in 1973, 91 percent of the mothers attending AVANCE had dropped out of school. 94 percent of their children who had attended AVANCE has either completed high school, received their GED or were still attending high school.
- A 28-year Dallas survey of 32 original families attending AVANCE classes in 1973 demonstrated that 100 percent of mothers had not completed high school. However, 78 percent of the children who attended the AVANCE program has either completed high school or received their GED. 56 percent of the children who graduated went to college or technical school, and 22 percent of graduating students have either completed or are working on advanced degrees.
Diane Jones of Citizens Development Center Receives 2005 Human Services Professional Award from Community Council of Greater Dallas
The Community Council of Greater Dallas awarded its 2005 Distinguished Human Service Professional Award to Diane Jones, Associate Executive Director, Citizens Development Center. The 2005 Award honors the outstanding performance of a staff member of a Community Council Member Agency.
Diane is a worthy awardee, as she has dedicated her entire career as an outstanding advocate for individuals with disabilities. She says she does this work because she is making a difference in people's lives. Diane graduated from the University of Texas Health Science Center in 1983 with a Bachelor's degree in rehabilitation science. When she came to the Citizens Development Center (CDC) for her first job interview, she remembers the clients greeting her warmly and says they have had her heart since that day.
She began working at CDC the same month she graduated from college, accepting a position as Production Supervisor, even though she was over-qualified for the job. In this position, she worked directly with men and women with developmental disabilities in a supervised work setting, teaching job and behavioral management skills.
After just a few months, Diane was promoted to Case Manager; and in the succeeding 22 years, she has been promoted six times at CDC. Currently, her position is second to the Executive Director.
Early in her career at CDC, Diane also worked as a house parent for women with mental retardation and took night classes to earn her Master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of North Texas. She is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor and oversees CDC's Work Center and Employment Programs, supervises all program staff, and handles all human resources and regulatory compliance for the agency.
Diane is not content just to keep on doing what she was doing well. In the last year, Diane researched cutting edge programs for individuals with disabilities and developed a new CDC program to provide computer skills training and job search resources to CDC clients. She recently spearheaded the creation of the agency's first risk management manual, which focuses heavily on the safety of clients on a day-to-day basis or in emergency situations. Despite changing requirements of state agencies, Diane is consistently on-time with all reports; and the agency is rated at or near 100 percent on reviews and audits.
Diane is an excellent representative of all those who work tirelessly in human services.
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