HHSA Eligibility Recognition Event Honors Outstanding Service

 (Click on image to view larger) Twenty HHSA employees were honored at the annual Eligibilty Recognition Event. The ceremony recognizes outstanding service by staff members who administer programs such as CalFresh, Medi-Cal, Welfare-to-Work and General Relief.

For staff members who work in the Health and Human Services Agency’s (HHSA’s) Self-Sufficiency Programs, coming to work each day means the chance to help families put food on the table, access health care or put a roof over their heads.

Eligibility staff members administer programs such as CalFresh, Medi-Cal, Welfare-to-Work and General Relief that provide key support for individuals and families in need. This is no small task. Over the past fiscal year, HHSA staff determined eligibility on more than 300,000 new applications and recertified over 290,000 existing cases across the Self-Sufficiency Programs. The ACCESS Call Center answered more than 450,000 customer calls.

The hard work done to serve County residents is not going unnoticed. Last week, 20 eligibility workers and 5 offices were recognized for outstanding service during HHSA’s annual Eligibility Recognition Event. In addition, one staff member and one office were honored in a separate event by the San Diego Hunger Coalition and the CalFresh Task Force for outstanding efforts to work collaboratively with community-based organizations to serve residents.

“These staff members know better than anyone that behind every application they process there is a family in need,” said County Chief Administrative Officer Helen Robbins-Meyer, who addressed award recipients at the HHSA recognition event. “They should be proud of the work they are doing, because it is making a real difference in the lives of residents.”

Eligibility staff members were recognized in one of four categories: Innovator Awards, Outstanding Newcomer, Outstanding Service to the Community, and STAR (Service, Teamwork, Attitude, Reliability) Awards. Offices were recognized for performance excellence.

“The work eligibility staff does directly supports Live Well, San Diego!” said HHSA Director Nick Macchione. “For the residents we serve through these programs, these staff members are a critical link to accessing health care, purchasing healthy food, and building skills to achieve self-sufficiency.”

The San Diego Hunger Coalition and the CalFresh Task Force recently recognized Kris Call and Carolyn Martinez-Kidd from the North Coastal Family Resource Center as CalFresh County Liaisons of the Year. The South Region Family Resource Center was named CalFresh Community & County Partnership of the Year for its work with the Chula Vista Community Collaborative.

Eligibility Recognition Event Honorees

Innovator Awards

Cicely Suarez                       Lemon Grove Family Resource Center

Manual Casteneda              Eligibility Operations

Liliana Rucobo                     South Region Family Resource Center

Isis Zepeda                         North Coastal Family Resource Center

Outstanding Newcomer

Sabrena Wolf                      North Central Family Resource Center

Claudia Perez                     South Region Family Resource Center

Katherine Montano             North Inland Family Resource Center

Outstanding Service to the Community

Diana Zepeda                       Health Coverage Access

Diana Martinez                     North Inland Family Resource Center

Dao Thai                               ACCESS Customer Service Center

Carmen Lopez                      Eligibility Operations

STAR Award (Service, Teamwork, Attitude, Reliability)

Jennifer Cullum                El Cajon Family Resource Center

Jasmine Gilham                Northeast Family Resource Center

Jaime Mendez                  Southeast Family Resource Center

Jeanette Munoz               North Inland Family Resource Center

Ernesto Riedel                 Southeast Family Resource Center

Lisa Han                           Lemon Grove Family Resource Center

Ruth Lackovic                   North Coastal Family Resource Center

Janet Fonseca                  South Region Family Resource Center

John Peterson                  Facilities

Group Awards

North Coastal Family Resource Center (Overall Operational Excellence Winner)

Southeast Family Resource Center

El Cajon Family Resource Center

North Inland Family Resource Center

North Central Family Resource Center

Centre City Family Resource Center

Metro Family Resource Center