Thank you to everyone who entered in the 2019 CSAC Challenge Awards.

Overall we received 284 entries this year — second most in the program’s 25-year history

These unique awards recognize the innovative and creative spirit of California county governments as they find innovative, effective and cost-saving ways to provide programs and services to their citizens. This is a wonderful opportunity to spotlight your county’s best practices and the staff behind them. To review an electronic version of our Call for Entries instructions, click here.

If you want to ensure you receive a copy of the Call for Entries in 2020, please send your email address to dliebler@counties.org.

Entry Categories

Issue Area Categories

Administration of Justice & Public Safety – Includes programs associated with local law enforcement and public safety, adult and juvenile detention, and probation.

Agriculture, Environment & Natural Resources – Includes programs associated with agriculture, the environment, air quality, water, flood control, energy, parks and recreation, public lands, forestry, mining, endangered species, solid waste, and hazardous waste.

Government Finance, Administration & Technology – Includes programs associated with internal operations, employee training and wellness, workers’ compensation, public records, technology, economic development, libraries, elections, food safety, and disaster planning/response.

Health & Human Services – Includes programs associated with health care, mental health, homelessness, foster care, child welfare services, adult protective services, IHSS, general  assistance, aging, CalWORKs, county hospitals/medical facilities, the indigent, and veterans.

Housing, Land Use & Infrastructure – Includes programs associated with housing, land use, growth, planning, transportation, infrastructure, and tribal gaming issues.

Population Categories

Population categories reflect the three caucuses within CSAC: Rural Suburban and Urban Counties. 

Rural – Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Inyo, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Plumas, San Benito, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yuba.

Suburban –  Butte, Imperial, Kern, Marin, Merced, Monterey, Napa, Placer, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tulare, Yolo.

Urban – Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Ventura.

To review the complete Call for Entries instructions, click here.