Henrico County’s general government departments and Henrico County Public Schools have earned a combined 27 Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo) for innovative programs and initiatives.
The 27 awards stemmed from 32 entries for 2019 and are the most of any county in Virginia for the 14th consecutive year. Henrico’s total is the seventh most nationally, behind San Bernardino County, Calif.; Los Angeles County, Calif.; San Diego County, Calif.; Miami-Dade County, Fla.; Montgomery County, Md.; and Maricopa County, Ariz. Those counties have populations between 1 million and 10 million residents; Henrico has about 330,000 residents, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
NACo will present the awards July 14 at its 2019 Annual Conference and Exposition in Clark County, Nev. The Achievement Awards program recognizes groundbreaking programs and initiatives in 18 service categories, including children and youth, county administration and management, libraries, risk and emergency management, and human services.
“Henrico’s outstanding performance in the NACo Achievement Awards program year after year provides another metric that places the county among the finest and best-governed communities in the country,” County Manager John A. Vithoulkas said. “Every day, our employees are challenged to solve problems through creativity and innovation and to provide excellent customer service to residents and others in the community. The NACo awards show how our workforce is meeting these challenges head on.”
Henrico has earned 655 NACo awards since 1985. The awards in 2019 recognize the work of six general government departments and Henrico County Public Schools (HCPS). HCPS collected 13 awards; Henrico County Public Library, four; Henrico Area Mental Health & Developmental Services and the Division of Fire, three apiece; the Department of Community Revitalization, two; and James River Juvenile Detention Center and the Department of Planning, one apiece.
Henrico’s award-winning programs and their submitting agencies are listed below.
• “Youth Experiencing Healing Through the Arts,” James River Juvenile Detention Center
• “Opiate Jail Diversion,” Henrico Area Mental Health & Developmental Services (MH/DS)
• “Reducing Re-hospitalization Rates: Same Place Access,” MH/DS
• “Life Enrichment for those Aging with Developmental Disabilities,” MH/DS
• “Highland Springs Historic District Website,” Community Revitalization
• “Vacant Housing Tracker,” Community Revitalization
• “Caregivers Kits,” Henrico County Public Library (HCPL)
• “Closing the Distance Between Us,” HCPL
• “Music and Memory,” HCPL
• “Sensory Storytime,” HCPL
• “Route 5 Corridor Study Public Engagement Portal,” Planning
• “Basic Life Support Transport Program,” Fire
• “Firefighter Individual Record of Exposures (FIRE) Program,” Fire
• “Fiscal Program Appraisals,” Fire
• “Tech the Halls: Reaching Our Community with a Holiday Event,” Henrico County Public Schools (HCPS)
• “Building Book Nooks, Building Community Literacy,” HCPS
• “3-Es of K-12 Education: Enrolled, Enlisted, and/or Employed,” HCPS
• “A Conference Room Renovation Meets Needs of Students and Their School,” HCPS
• “Driven for Success: A New Kind of Open House,” HCPS
• “Learning Carpentry While Supporting a Local Elementary School,” HCPS
• “Setting the Bar High: CTE Letter-of-Intent Signing Day,” HCPS
• “A Practical Nursing School Collaborates for a Healthier Community,” HCPS
• “Helping First Responders and Visitors Find Their Way,” HCPS
• “Specialty Center Partnership Shares Expertise,” HCPS
• “Partnership with Roofing Professionals Gives Students a Broader Career View,” HCPS
• “Making Peer Socialization a SNAP,” HCPS
• “#TheALEXProject,” HCPS
