We recently had the pleasure of spotlighting 12 county best practices during National County Government Month. These innovative programs were recipients of the 2015 CSAC Challenge Awards.

For the past few months, CSAC communications staff has been on the road to learn more about these programs for the videos and blogs we produced. We traveled from San Diego to Amador, Los Angeles to Mendocino.

Along the way we met scores of committed county staff members, residents benefiting from the programs, and even a couple of happy canines. The staff spoke with passion, the clients showed their gratitude, and the dogs … well… they wagged their tails.

The innovative programs we learned about touched on a number of key issues to counties:  corrections, foster care, water, veterans services and human trafficking to name a few. We also learned about collaboration between county departments, different counties and various local governments. Most importantly, we learned – once again – that innovation and creativity are alive and well in our 58 counties.

And now we turn our focus to the 2016 Challenge Awards.  The deadline for counties to enter is June 24.

CSAC recognizes counties in four population categories so that Alpine isn’t competing against Los Angeles County. We also honor the “best of the best” with the California Counties Innovation Award. This past year, that award went to San Diego County for its Acutely Vulnerable Adult Protocols.

Challenge Award-winning programs receive state and national exposure, are highlighted in county best practices videos, and recognized at Boards of Supervisors meetings. This is a great way for counties to let their colleagues across the state and nation know about the innovative work they are doing. Our awards program is also a wonderful way to put the spotlight on the staff who developed and implement these best practices.

Entering is simple; all it takes is a two-page executive summary that explains the challenge the county was facing, the innovative solution, its cost effectiveness and potential replicability. Counties that want to see executive summaries of past award winners just have to ask us.

We encourage you to enter the 2016 CSAC Challenge Awards. For a small investment of time to develop the executive summary, your county and staff could be recognized for its innovation. If you need more information, don’t hesitate to give me a call. You have already met the challenge; now all you have to do is tell us about it.