FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                   

Contact:        Pete Winton, Lee County Administration
                    (941) 335-2777           

COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES DIRECTOR HONORED WITH STATEWIDE AWARD

FORT MYERS, Fla. (August 12, 2002) – Lee County Human Services Director Karen Hawes has been awarded the 2002 William B. Sutton Award from the Florida Association of County Social Services Executives (FACSSE). 

The statewide honor recognizes a social services professional who exhibits compassion for others, strong leadership qualities and a commitment to enhancing the goals of the organization. 

The FACSSE is an affiliate of the Florida Association of Counties with a mission to educate and advocate for efficient and effective county health and human service programs. 

The organization credited Hawes’ strong leadership qualities that have enabled her to work within her community, with state human service agencies, and private, non-profit agencies to coordinate the delivery of human services. 

“Mrs. Hawes was instrumental in advocating for change to improve service delivery through actions such as obtaining Community Action Agency designation for several orphaned counties throughout Florida who were not receiving an allocation under the Community Services Block Grant Program,” wrote FACSSE President Beth Ryder. 

“Another area that Mrs. Hawes has been active is the Medicaid Task Force by working to increase accountability of the Medicaid program and the share paid by our counties.” 

Ryder also pointed out that through Hawes’ efforts, Lee County Human Services was awarded a Best Practices Award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2000 and was the recipient this year of a national Public Service Excellence Award – the only county to receive such an award. 

Hawes is a 17-year county employee and has been Human Services Director for nine years.  She also has served as Deputy County Manager. 

Lee County Human Services provides a complement of integrated services to low-income families and disadvantaged neighborhoods, including emergency financial assistance, housing assistance, counseling services, housing rehabilitation, neighborhood infrastructure improvements and neighborhood building, and services for the homeless.  The department employs 42 people and has a Fiscal Year 2002 budget of $16.9 million.