2021 Governor's Team Excellence Award Recipients
For their dedicated work and success in making Delaware state government more innovative and efficient, Governor John Carney announced the recipients for this year’s Governor’s Team Excellence Award Program.
GEAR P3 Innovation and Efficiency Award Recipient
This award recognizes teams that serve as role models in their application of continuous improvement techniques and achievement of outstanding results.
Delaware Overdose and Police Diversion Program
Department of Safety and Homeland Security/Delaware State Police
Department of Health and Social Services
Department of Justice
The Delaware Overdose and Police Diversion Program is a collaborative endeavor between three state agencies: The Delaware State Police, the DHSS Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH), and the Department of Justice. The team was comprised of key members of each of the three agencies who were able to develop a partnership and a program that provides real-time intervention for individuals enduring mental health or substance-use disorders and provides for diversion from the criminal justice system. The program is uniquely designed to increase collaboration and optimization in the services to our communities in order to reduce substance use disorders and deaths, reduce crime and police involvement with those suffering from substance abuse and/or behavioral health needs, provide immediate treatment and follow-up care, and increase accountability. As of December 24, 2021, troopers provided 528 referrals to DSAMH. Of those 528 referrals, 131 (26%) accepted treatment, which significantly exceeded the national average of 11%. The extraordinary collaboration among this leadership team has led to a program that positively impacts the lives of Delaware’s residents and visitors.
Champions Award Recipients
This award recognizes teams that demonstrate a superior use of continuous quality improvement tools to achieve exceptional results in process efficiency, customer service, and cost savings.
DelDOT Vaccination Site Coordination Team
Department of Transportation
At a critical time of the pandemic when COVID vaccines first became available to the public, the Vaccination Site Coordination Team managed the opening of DMV facilities across the State to act as drive-through vaccination sites. Working closely with DHSS, DEMA, and other partners, this DelDOT team provided traffic management, equipment, technology, administrative support, and other logistical assistance to ensure that vaccinations were delivered in the quickest manner possible while keeping all volunteers and citizens safe. In February of 2021, they moved their operations in to Dover Downs to be able to serve more people at each event. Through the various mass vaccination events held during the winter of 2020 and spring of 2021, there were over 75,000 people vaccinated. With such a large, unprecedented, and critical operation, the team overcame many challenges to ensure the public's safety. The team did such an excellent job that FEMA advocated using the team’s processes as a model for other states to assist them with their mass vaccination site events.
Office of Unclaimed Property – Money Match Team
Department of Finance
Delaware’s Office of Unclaimed Property (OUP), with the assistance of the Division of Revenue, Department of Technology and Information, and the Office of the State Treasurer, developed the MONEY MATCH program as a new and sensible approach to use technology to identify unclaimed property and return it to the rightful owners. In an innovative, customer-driven approach, the program uses recent Delaware state tax filing as a means of returning the property - without the need for owners to file a claim or additional paperwork. During the first MONEY MATCH mailing, OUP mailed checks to over 19,000 Delaware taxpayers, returning over $3 million dollars to the rightful owners. In September 2021, OUP mailed checks to over 6,500 additional Delaware taxpayers, returning over $900,000 dollars back to the rightful owners. Because of the efficiency of this new process, the department estimates that it has already saved more than 2000-6000 hour of staff time. Going forward, OUP will mail MONEY MATCH checks every autumn based on new matches from the most recent state tax filing data.
Commitment Award Recipient
This award recognizes teams that demonstrate a commitment to developing and applying continuous improvement tools and techniques to achieving quality results in their organization.
iLEAD Delaware Leadership Program Team
Department Human Resources
The iLEAD Delaware Leadership Team is a cross-functional team of individuals with different areas of expertise brought together to create and implement a new and modern approach to leadership development in State Government. By gathering needs analysis feedback from employees and leaders from across the State, garnering high-level leadership support, and working through many challenges, they developed the iLEAD Delaware Leadership Program. This program consists of two new statewide leadership development curricula: Leadership Essentials and Frontline Leadership. Leadership Essentials is an online employee development curriculum for current, aspiring, and new supervisors. The Frontline Leadership Program is a more rigorous curriculum for current and new supervisors that requires employees to demonstrate skills learned throughout the program. Since implementation in March 2021, 175 employees completed Leadership Essentials and 275 more employees are currently enrolled. Since implementing iLEAD Frontline Leadership in June 2021, over 100 employees are currently enrolled in this comprehensive certification program. These new leadership series are a great foundational training option that agencies can build upon as they develop future leaders.
DART Connect Micro-Transit Pilot Program
Department of Transportation
This multi-divisional team of professionals implemented a first of its kind, on-demand, micro-transit pilot program in the Georgetown and Millsboro areas. The pilot program focused on improving transit opportunities and connections for low-income and minority residents who have traditionally struggled with public transit options, frequencies, and choices in rural communities, like the opportunity zone of Georgetown and Millsboro. Since its implementation, the pilot program increased the frequency and choice of transit access and options in a key employment, manufacturing, and health services hubs in these rural communities, especially for low-income and minority residents. It has earned praise from residents for improving the reservation process, reducing service wait times, reducing in-transit time, improving on-demand responsiveness, improving transit reliability, and for closing the first mile/last mile access barrier that impeded many area users. The team is currently collecting and analyzing performance data to support program expansion in Delaware beyond the Georgetown and Millsboro opportunity zone. The information being collected will also be used by the Federal Transit Administration to improve transit connections throughout rural America where the same public transportation issues being addressed by the pilot program exist.
Port of Wilmington Expansion Project Permitting Team
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
The Port of Wilmington Expansion Project Permitting Team led a multi-year effort to review the proposed container facility by the Diamond State Port Corporation at the former DuPont/ Chemours Edgemoor site. The team worked to balance the development of an economically valuable port with the protection of Delaware’s natural resources to ensure the port was permitted in a responsible way. The team’s collaborative and efficient approach involved combining and streamlining processes as well as working across divisions and agencies to remove barriers. Their approach ensured compliance with applicable regulations and ensured the public’s right for information and participation was met. By working collaboratively, the team demonstrated how different programs within DNREC work together to achieve a common goal. The team also identified an innovative and pioneering technology, eDNA, to develop a strategy to monitor the abundance and distribution of aquatic species of concern. The team’s efforts stand as a model for innovative and collaborative review procedures for complex, technical development projects.
