I am pleased to nominate Ms. Colleen French for VJJA’s 2005 Award for Administration in juvenile justice.  Ms. French, an Assistant Superintendent, is a dedicated professional who achieves excellence as a matter of routine.  In my twenty-five plus years of experience working in human services, I have had the rare occasion to work with individuals who possess the broad and diverse traits, skills, and abilities as those possessed by Ms. French, all of which contribute to her professional competence within  the field of juvenile justice.  Ms. French is creative, resourceful, highly motivated, analytical, adaptable, and possess a positive attitude and demeanor which is often allusive after working several years in public service.

Ms. French is an exceptional organizer and planner.  During her tenure with our agency, Ms. French has redesigned our residential program from one designed to provide care and services to 21 youth to one designed to accommodate the needs of 81 youth.  She has institutionalized a behavior management system that is based on sound psychological principles which purposefully solicit positive behavior from youth and create positive interactions between youth and staff.  Additionally, Ms. French has been instrumental in the development and implementation of an automated case management system which provides higher levels of quality assurance and customer service.

Ms. French has also provided leadership in the development and implementation of a post-dispositional treatment program which is evidence based and outcome focused.  The program has captivated the attention of the print news, television, advertisers, and professionals who seek to emulate our evaluative design.  Expanding upon an organizational vision which maximizes the use of fiscal resources, requires accountability, and promotes quality programming, Ms. French serves as the site coordinator for the implementation of Performance-based Standards as an organizational means to facilitate continuous quality improvement.

While there are numerous other traits, accomplishments, skills, etc. that I could mention, I will conclude my comments by offering two brief observations that provide the exclamation mark at the end of my nomination.  First, Ms. French received her Master of Public Administration from Virginia in May, 2002, while working full-time and maintaining family obligations.  Secondly, Ms. French obtained her ACA Certified Corrections Executive (CCE) credentials within the past year making her one of the few, if not the only, juvenile detention employee in the Commonwealth to obtain this distinction.