Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc. Announces the Winner
of the 2006 Thomas M. Wernert Award for Innovation in Community Behavioral Healthcare

Boston, MA – Tuesday, April 24, 2007. The Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc. (TAC) announces the winner of the 2006 Thomas M. Wernert Award for Innovation in Community Behavioral Healthcare. The Technical Assistance Collaborative and the David and Lura Lovell Foundation have selected the Marion County Juvenile Justice Program operated by the Marion Area Counseling Center, Inc., in Marion, Ohio as the recipient of the $10,000 award.

The Marion County Juvenile Justice Program (MCJJP) is a collaboration between the Marion Area Counseling Center, the Juvenile Court and community partners to develop this effective and innovative program to meet the needs of youth coming through the Juvenile Justice system. The MCJJP was developed and designed to begin targeting specialized services and supports for 90 percent of the court involved juvenile population whose mental health and substance abuse treatment needs were either unidentified and/or unmet.

Programs receiving honorable mention: Summer Treatment and Recreation Program (STAR) – Evergreen Counseling Center in Hoquiam, WA; and the Asset-Building, Financial Self Management Fitness Practices and Services – Community Enterprises Corporation in Freehold, New Jersey.

The Thomas M. Wernert Award for Innovation in Community Behavioral Healthcare is an annual award that grants $10,000 to a state, county, or community-based non-profit organization providing exemplary behavioral health services. TAC and the Lovell Foundation are committed to supporting and honoring innovation in community behavioral health. The annual award program seeks to identify and give national recognition to a program demonstrating innovation and creativity while ensuring community and consumer participation.

This award is given in memory of Thomas M. Wernert, former Executive Director of the Lucas County Mental Health Board in Toledo, Ohio. The winning programs embody the ideas and ideals Mr. Wernert exercised in his leadership in public behavioral healthcare.

For additional information please contact Evette Jackson at the Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts at (301) 203-1710. Applications for the 2007 award will be available on the TAC website on or about November 2007.

Past Wernert Winners and Honorees
To read more about past award winners, click here.