COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

County Manager's Office

 

DATE:

August 21, 2002

   

BOARD MEETING DATE:

September 10, 2002

 

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

   

FROM:

John Maltbie, County Manager

   

SUBJECT:

Employee of the Month for September 2002

 

Recommendation

Honor Bernestine Benton as Employee of the Month for September 2002 and authorize the President of the Board to sign the commendation.

 

Background

The Employee of the Month program was established in December 1984 to recognize and honor County employees who consistently demonstrate an outstanding level of performance.

Our Employee of the Month for September 2002 is Bernestine Benton, Community Program Specialist in the Health Services Agency.

 

Discussion

Bernestine Benton, a Community Program Specialist III, has served with distinction and creativity as the Coordinator of the Prenatal Advantage/Black Infant Health Project almost since its inception in 1991. This community-based program has the major goals of decreasing the infant mortality rate among African Americans, and decreasing illness and mortality associated with high-risk low birth weight births. Bernestine's leadership has been vital in ensuring the hiring of culturally competent staff, and in running a program which, until recently, was run with very limited core funding. She has forged lasting relationships with the March of Dimes, numerous community organizations based in East Palo Alto, outside funders, and with medical and healthcare providers throughout the County.

Due to the many efforts of Bernestine and her staff, African American women and men can more easily access healthcare and social services programs. Additionally, outcomes have improved for the African American infants and providers are now aware of the unique needs of the African American community. This is evidenced by a drop in the African American infant mortality rate from 21.7 per 1,000 live births in 1992 to 2.8 per 1,000 live births in 1997. An evaluation of our County's program revealed that only 1.3% of infants born to program participants fell into the highest risk low birth weight category, half the rate of a similar risk group not participating in the Prenatal Advantage/BIH program.

Bernestine's tireless efforts, good humor, and constant advocacy for African American clients have resulted in the County's program being viewed as a model for similar programs throughout the state. The Prenatal Advantage/BIH program is in the process of expanding services to North County, and is now serving men through the Role of Men component of the program. Despite the challenges of modifying and expanding the program to meet current needs, Bernestine and her staff have continued to provide exemplary service to the African American communities in East Palo Alto and now Daly City.

In addition to her scope of work with the Prenatal Advantage/Black Infant Health program, Bernestine also exemplifies a strong collaborative approach. She became an active planner and a participant in the Prenatal to Three Initiative in 1996. She has been a member of the Initiative Committee since 1996 and co-chaired the committee in 1999-2000. In July 2002, Bernestine took training to become a Touchpoints trainer and is now working with a team to train other providers in the County on Touchpoints.

Our County is fortunate to have Bernestine Benton as one of its outstanding employees.

 

Vision Alignment

This item keeps the commitment of responsive, effective and collaborative government through goal number 21: County employees understand, support and integrate the County vision and goals into their delivery of services.