Three Oakland County Board of Commissioners (BOC) programs have been honored with 2022 Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo). The 2020-2021 Oakland Together School Nurse Initiative, Blueprint for Successful Aging and Board of Commissioners Digital Meeting Resources and Technology Updates Project will all be recognized during NACo’s 2022 Annual Conference and Exposition in July. The awards highlight innovative, effective county government programs that strengthen services for residents.
“These programs are a testament to the fact that even during a global pandemic, Oakland County continues to lead on innovation and responding quickly to the need of residents,” Chairman David T. Woodward (D-Royal Oak) said. “I am proud of all commissioners, staff and their work to help students learn safely, support seniors and make our own meetings more accessible.”
The BOC, Oakland County Health Division, and Oakland Schools launched the 2020-2021 Oakland Together School Nurse Initiative in the summer of 2020 to create a safe environment for students and staff and to better support the academic needs of students during the pandemic. Through this partnership, the county’s health division hired public health nurses to serve in local school districts to address COVID-19-related concerns. As a trusted source of information for students, staff and parents, the school nurses became an essential bridge between local school districts and the county’s health division. Prior to the program, five of the 28 public school districts in Oakland County had a school nurse position within their district. In the school year following the initiative, 24 districts had at least one nurse or health advocate on their staff to serve their students, staff and families.
To embrace and prepare for Oakland County’s aging population, the Board’s Healthy Aging Ad Hoc Committee published Oakland County’s Blueprint for Successful Aging, in partnership with the Area Agency on Aging (AAA 1-B), in late 2021. Following a series of townhalls and a survey that used multiple types of engagement strategies, the committee used community feedback to gain a better understanding of areas in which seniors need more support, plus potential strategies for addressing them. The Blueprint for Successful Aging serves as a strategic plan for Oakland County communities. With a comprehensive and data-driven set of ten recommendations, the blueprint will help local municipalities and organizations create system changes and positive measurable outcomes to address aging service gaps, unmet needs and opportunities.
“Supporting seniors with relevant services is crucial to their quality of life on a county and local level,” Commissioner Kristen Nelson (D-Waterford Twp.), who chairs the Oakland County Healthy Aging Ad Hoc Committee, said. “With the help of AAA 1-B, we identified how to improve upon what our communities and organizations are already doing so we can have a holistic approach to the assistance we offer seniors, and we continue to develop new ways to do so.”
With a series of technology upgrades and software updates, the Board of Commissioners Digital Meeting Resources and Technology Updates Project was implemented throughout 2020 and 2021. Through this project, the BOC digitized its agenda management processes and greatly expanded audio-visual capabilities in three public meeting rooms. The updates allow greater access to view remote meeting webcasts and meeting resources for the public; reduce redundancies for staff; allow staff to update meeting resources more quickly; create better technology capabilities for onsite and remote presentations during meetings; allow for electronic voting; automate meeting minutes creation; digitize approval flows; and improve production of meeting webcasts.
“The pandemic has brought us many challenges, but it also gave us the opportunity to look more closely at our technology needs and bring the BOC into the 21st century,” Commissioner Michael Spisz (R-Oxford) said. “With CivicClerk and the additional technology in our meeting rooms, we have reduced redundancies for staff and commissioners, and most importantly, made meetings and documents easier for the public to access.”
Started in 1970, NACo’s annual Achievement Awards program is designed to recognize county government innovations. Each nominee is judged on its own merits and not against other applications received. In total, Oakland County received 11 NACo Achievement Awards in 2022.
For additional information about the Board of Commissioners, visit www.oakgov.com/boc.
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