Orange County honored with 20 awards for innovation and achievement

Santa Ana, CA (June 18, 2024) —National Association of Counties (NACo) awarded eight County of Orange departments with a collective total of 20 achievement awards on June 7, 2024, in recognition of various innovative county government programs.

County of Orange department programs that received NaCo Achievement Awards are as follows:

• Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation
  • OC Community Resources – OC Parks
    “Heritage and History at Fall-O-Ween”
• Civic Education and Public Information
  • OC Child Support Services
    “Community Ambassador Program”
• Community and Economic Development
  • OC Waste & Recycling
    “Senate Bill 1383 Procurement Program & Market Development Plan”
• County Resiliency: Infrastructure, Energy, and Sustainability
  • OC Community Resources – OC Parks
    “A Win-Win: Capistrano County Beach and Doheny State Beach Sand Replenishment Project”
• Criminal Justice and Public Safety
  • OC Probation Department
    “College Occupational Program (COP)”
  • “Orange County Juvenile Hall’s Youth Council”
  • “Public Safety Academy”
• Human Services
  • OC Community Resources – Office on Aging, and Social Services Agency
    “Access to Technology – Bridging the Digital Divide”
  • OC Community Resources – OC Community Services/Workforce & Economic Development
    “Career Preparation and Exploration for Justice-Involved Individuals”
  • OC Community Resources – Office on Aging, OC Community Services
    “Senior Non-Emergency Medical Transportation”
  • OC Community Resources – OC Community Services/Workforce & Economic Development, and OC Veterans Service Office
    “Veteran Employment Program”
• Information Technology
  • OC Clerk-Recorder
    “Bridging Distances for Love: Orange County Clerk-Recorder’s Virtual Marriage Ceremony Initiative”
  • OC Auditor-Controller
    “Employee Reimbursement System – OC METER (Mileage, Education, Travel Employee Reimbursement)”
• Libraries
  • OC Community Resources – OC Public Libraries
    “A Slice of Literary Orange: A Reimagined Speaker Series”
  • “Everything Teen at the Library”
  • “Lunch at the Library Reimagined”
• Parks and Recreation
  • OC Community Resources – OC Parks
    “Celebrating Fall-O-Ween in the Park”
  • “Climb, Crawl, and Discover – Habitat Adventure Trail”
  • “Saddleback Wilderness Opens to the Public”
• Personnel Management, Employment, and Training
  • OC Child Support Services
    “CSS Academy – Onboarding Program”

Further descriptions of these award-winning programs are available on the NACo website: naco.org/page/achievement-awards.

About the County of Orange

The County of Orange is a regional service provider and planning agency whose core businesses include public safety, public health, environmental protection, regional planning, public assistance, social services and aviation. This includes 22 departments and over 17,000 employees serving with a commitment to make Orange County a safe, healthy, and fulfilling place to live, work, and play, today and for generations to come, by providing outstanding, cost-effective regional public services.​

For more information about the County, visit ocgov.com.

Art Pedroza Editor

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

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