Maricopa County makes history with 75 NACo awards
Phoenix, Arizona (Release): The National Association of Counties (NACo) has awarded Maricopa County -- Arizona’s most populous county -- 75 National Achievement Awards for designing and implementing programs that have made a measurable, positive impact on the community over the past year.
The 75 NACo awards are the most the county has ever received. And with 22 county departments, elected offices, and courts honored in 2024, Maricopa County is seeing nearly half of its 50 lines of business recognized for excellence.
“I’m so impressed with the quality of work happening within our organization, from criminal justice to transportation to elections,” said Chairman Jack Sellers, District 1. “What I see from our employees is a commitment to the public good, to quality of life, to helping those with barriers to employment or housing or healthcare. This wide-ranging recognition from NACo is proof of what I’ve known for a long time: Maricopa County is one of the best-run, most efficient, and most innovative governments in the United States.”
Human Services (20) and Public Health (15) received the most awards among departments reporting up through the County Manager, while the Superior Court of Maricopa County got recognition across several divisions (Adult Probation- 8; Juvenile Probation- 3; Judicial Branch- 1). Many winning programs involved collaborations across departments or elected offices.
“Working in Maricopa County government means a chance to make a difference every day,” said County Manager Jen Pokorski. “I’m proud of our team of innovators and doers who show up each day thinking about how to make life better for others and provide great value to taxpayers.”
Full list of Maricop County's award-winning initiatives and programs
1) Clean Air STEM Project Kits
2) Decision Points
3) JDO Recruitment Day
4) Maricopa County Department of Public Health School Surveillance Medication Program
5) SPARK
6) Youth Mental Health First Aid certification training for Maricopa County middle and high school personnel
7) Adopt. For Dogs’ Sake Marketing Campaign
8) Focus on Fentanyl Educational Campaign
9) Project Restore: My Records, My Rights
10) Stand Up/2023—Behavioral Health Expo. Event date: May 6, 2023
11) Allocating ARPA Awards to Affordable Housing Development Opportunities
12) City of Buckeye, Senior Center Kitchen Expansion and Remodel
13) City of El Mirage, Hohokam Trail Improvement
14) FAST (Family Advocacy and Support Team)
15) In Demand Industry Prioritization
16) A Home of My Own
17) Vuspex – Virtual Inspections
18) Probation and Recycling Program: A Collaborative Initiative for Justice-Involved Individuals and Environmental Sustainability
19) Accounts Payable Process Improvement Project
20) Fugitive Apprehension Unit’s Warrant Fileless Streamlining
21) Initial Absconder Probation Violation Report Program
22) Saving Trees by Reinventing Electronically (STRivE Program)
23) Supply Order Tracking
24) Detention Officer Naloxone Issuance and Training Program
25) Human Animal Interaction Inmate Program
26) Justice-Involved Women Program: gender-specific community supervision and services
27) Organized Retail Crime Campaign: "Safe Shopping"
28) Procedural Update for Receiving, Testing, and Storage of Sexual Assault Kits
29) Warrant Resolution Streamlining for Individuals in Custody
30) Work Release Jail Bed Reservation System
31) Creation of and Centralizing the Office of Grants Management
32) A Comprehensive Evaluation of Cooling Centers in Maricopa County, Arizona — 2023
33) Correctional Health Services Petition Team
34) Environmental Health Division 30-Day Transition for New Owners
35) HACCP-Variance Program Enhancements
36) Maricopa County: Vaccine Event Management Program
37) Mixed-Methods Needs Assessment of People Who Use Drugs
38) Opioid Treatment Program Expansion with the Addiction Team
39) School Support Program
40) "Dynamic" Reporting
41) Centerline on Glendale - Arizona's First State LIHTC Development
42) Community Services Initiative
43) County Indigent Decedent Services Program
44) Diaper Grant
45) Dynamics Dictionary
46) Emergency Shelter Expansion for Families
47) Financial Empowerment Workshops
48) Hand in Hand -- County Collaboration with Cities to Address Homelessness
49) Healthcare Apprenticeship Program
50) HSD Contact Center
51) Maricopa County and City Partnerships to Prevent Heat Related Deaths
52) Maricopa County Human Services Department's first Family Resource Fair and Hiring Event
53) Nonprofit Assistance Program
54) Priority of Service Transition
55) Summer Heat Response Pilot
56) An Updated and Refreshed Look for Departmental Resources
57) Data Lakehouse Platform
58) Development of a Communicable Disease Geospatial and Temporal Aberration Detection System
59) Digital Workforce Automated Docketing
60) Dynamics Steering Committee
61) MCAO Victim Services Portal
62) Connecting Colleagues
63) Memory Care Boxes
64) Minecraft SMP Gaming Club
65) Maricopa County Parks and Recreation Department Natural Resource Plan
66) Buddy Program
67) Factors for Success
68) Flood Control District of Maricopa County New Employee Experience
69) Innovative Probation Assessment and Case Plan Refresher Program
70) Investing in Employee Wellbeing
71) Job Shadow Program
72) Law Student Summer Intern Program Stipend
73) Mentoring Program
74) Premium Poll Worker Training Program
75) Team Development & Collaboration Initiative
76) Health Equity Preparedness: Toolkit for Transforming Whole Community Planning
77) Maricopa County Department of Public Health Medical Reserve Corps Supporting Community Resiliency with Heat Relief Program Expansion