The San Luis Valley Joint Interagency Oversight Group (SLV Joint IOG) is pleased to honor partner agency staff members with the “Boots on the Ground” award in recognition of employees who exemplify the spirit of cross-systems collaboration.

The award recipients for April are Bonnie Ortega, SLV Behavioral Health Group and Lynn Balderas, Annette Perea, and Christina Agustin with the Alamosa County Department of Human Services.

“Bonnie shows compassion and passion for working with youth, collaborating across agencies and providing support for families.  She thrives on giving back to the community and working with early childhood programing as well as with youth populations. Bonnie has been instrumental in building and developing community-based services that provide a continuum of care for children and families.  In addition to her commitment to her work she exemplifies these qualities in her personal time volunteering as a board member for Gingerbread House Early Learning Center. She has worked tirelessly over the last several months to make sure that staff and communities have what they need to get through this extremely difficult time.”

“Christina, Lynn and Annette are the Child Protection Supervisor Team for Alamosa DHS Child and Adult Protective Services.  This team has worked diligently especially during COVID-19 and unusually high staff turnovers to make sure children are safe and that families and at-risk adults have their needs met and have also taken on front-line casework duties to make sure existing staff are not overwhelmed during this time.  They have grown into a team working together over the years to share resources and experiences that help families, with an accumulative thirty years of service to Alamosa County DHS!  We appreciate all of their hard work and the skills they use with children and families, their supervision and their mentoring of workers.”

Established in 2008 and funded through Colorado House Bill 1451, the SLV Joint IOG currently includes Alamosa and Saguache Counties.  Over twenty agencies participate including the 12th Judicial District, Probation Department, the Colorado Youth Detention Continuum program, Alamosa County Department of Human Services, Alamosa County Public Health Department, Alamosa School District, Center for Restorative Programs, Colorado Division of Youth Services, Colorado Health Partnerships, Crossroads’ Turning Points, San Luis Valley Early Childhood Council, San Luis Valley Behavioral Health Group, San Luis Valley BOCES, Signal Behavioral Health Network, Beacon Health Options, Saguache County Department of Social Services, Saguache County Public Health Department, Center School District, Moffat Consolidated School District, Mountain Valley School District, Tu Casa, and Teri Sisneros, Family Representative for the SLV Joint IOG. 

The goal of the SLV Joint IOG is to develop collaborative approaches for the provision of individualized, strength-based, family-centered, and culturally sensitive services to children, youth, and families.  The SLV Joint IOG works to increase the quality and appropriateness of services while encouraging cost-sharing and reducing service duplication and fragmentation. 

If you would like to learn more please contact Carrie Heltzel, SLV Joint IOG Director at carrieheltzel @gmail.com.