VALLEY— The San Luis Valley Joint Interagency Oversight Group (SLV Joint IOG) recently honored 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 recipient for October is Tiffany Martinez-Aponte of Tu Casa and Children’s Advocacy Center.
“Tiffany went above and beyond in community collaboration. She sat as a community member in a restorative process at Center for Restorative Program (CRP) called a community group conference. The gathering is an opportunity for individuals who have caused harm to take responsibility for their actions, the impacted parties to share how they were affected, and then for the group to create agreements together to make things as right as possible moving forward. MaTiffanyshared her expertise throughout the circle, helping the young people understand how their actions not only impacted the parties directly involved, but also the broader community. She was a huge help in coming up with the agreements and is continuing to work with two participants from that conference on an ongoing project. She is busy with her work at Tu Casa as it is, and so it meant a lot to us that she was willing to take time (several hours into the evening) to join CRP in holding young people accountable and helping them move forward! Her ongoing project with these young people also shows her commitment to community-based and strength-based solutions when conflict arises.," according to the oversight group.
Established in 2008 and funded through Colorado House Bill 1451, the SLV Joint IOG currently includes Alamosa and Saguache counties. Over 20 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, Health Colorado Inc., Boys and Girls Club of the San Luis Valley, Saguache County Department of Social Services, Saguache County Public Health Department, Center School District, Moffat Consolidated School District, Mountain Valley School District, Valley-Wide Health Systems Inc., La Puente Inc., Tu Casa, and Teri Sisneros, Family Representative for the SLV Joint IOG.
The goal of the oversight group 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.
