WISE's very first Owlie award goes to Fresno County Department of Behavioral Health (Fresno DBH), which has closely collaborated with the WISE team over the past year to implement recovery-oriented practices and boost the status of peer support workers within the County. Fresno DBH's dedicated efforts are led by Clinical Supervisor, Joan Keenen, and Division Manager, Stacy VanBruggen, who have worked tirelessly to bring WISE's educational tools and resources to their organizational leadership, supervisors, and peers.
An essential component of WISE's intensive organizational assessment involves the completion of surveys by key informants and peer support staff. Fresno DBH had, by far, the highest rate of survey participation for key informants, with 25 organizational leaders, managers, and supervisors responding. This was no easy feat, as these key informants are generally busy individuals who don't have time to respond to extraneous requests. This level of participation evidences leadership's deep commitment to establishing and maintaining high-quality peer support services.
Furthermore, Fresno DBH was the first and only WISE participating agency to request a train-thetrainer workshop for its own peer staff. On August 10 and 11, 2015, WISE spent two full days teaching peers and other Fresno DBH staff to deliver our core Recovery 101 training. Over 20 employees and contracted staff attended this workshop, which resulted in the certification of five Recovery 101 trainers who are now eligible to independently deliver this free resource throughout Fresno County. We also approved six Recovery 101 co-trainers to assist primary trainers in delivering portions of our core training. Since becoming certified trainers, Fresno DBH peers have gone on to deliver five separate Recovery 101 trainings to over 90 participants in just four short Joan Keenen, Clinical Supervisor, Fresno County DBH months. Way to go, Fresno County peers!
Fresno DBH has also participated in numerous WISE trainings and other sponsored activities. Fresno peers are regular participants on our Peer Professional Development Group calls and webinars, and several have taken advantage of WISE's career coaching, mentoring, and professional development services. WISE recently delivered three separate trainings to Fresno DBH supervisors and peers on November 12 and 13, 2015, and hosted two group coaching sessions for peer staff on these dates. Joan Keenen, WISE's primary Fresno DBH liaison, has also provided outstanding support to our program. She attended our Disruptive Innovation conference back in June 2015, and has participated in nearly every monthly WISE Employer Learning Exchange call and webinar since the program's inception.
We are proud to call Fresno DBH a true partner in this program, and we wholeheartedly welcome Fresno DBH staff to our WISE family. Please join us in congratulating Fresno County and in celebrating their receipt of the first ever WISE Owlie award!
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