Hilary Cairns, Program Manager at the Department of Human Services (DHS) for the Parent and Adolescent Support Services (PASS), Teen Parent Assistance (TPAP) and the Alternatives to the Court Experience (ACE) programs was selected last night as a finalist for the 14th Annual Cafritz awards. Established in 2000, the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Awards for Distinguished DC Government Employees is an annual program designed to recognize and honor outstanding performance and exemplary service among DC Government employees.
As the Program Manager for ACE, Cairns leads an interagency coalition, a collaboration between the Court Social Services (CSS), the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH), the DC Trust, the Department of Human Services’ Parent and Adolescent Support Services program (PASS), the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), and community-based service providers, to expand the quantity and scope of diversion services available to young people in the District. Through the ACE Diversion program, teens that are facing status offenses are successfully diverted out of the court system with no juvenile record. ACE is the only juvenile diversion program in the City and was newly implemented in summer, 2014. ACE receives diversions from MPD, CSS and OAG for truancy and low-level delinquency offenses.
“I am so excited and proud to have been nominated and chosen as a finalist,” said Cairns. “I also want to recognize my incredible PASS team and all the agencies and community service providers who partners with us in the ACE Diversion program and who are completely and utterly dedicated to improving the lives of young people in the District of Columbia. This honor is shared among all of us,” she concluded.
“Everyone at the Department of Human Services is extremely proud of Hilary,” said DHS Director Laura Zeilinger. “She is entirely deserving of this honor. Because of her work, many of our young people here in the District have increased access to the services and care they need to address the underlying causes contributing to truancy and other issues.”
The finalists and winners of the Cafritz awards are chosen based upon demonstrated performance and excellence in one or more of the selection criteria:
- Performed an outstanding act which brought positive recognition to the city.
- Successfully initiated and implemented an innovative idea that brought about dramatic results.
- Solved an extraordinary problem or achieved a significantly difficult goal.
- Consistently achieved excellence in overall job performance that is “above and beyond the call of duty.”
- Demonstrated outstanding and inspirational leadership that dramatically improved employee morale and team spirit.