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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 18, 2011
                    CONTACT:
Melanie Mowry Etters
Communications Director
(850) 488-4257

APD Wins Davis Awards

TALLAHASSEE -The Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) has 38 employees who will be receiving Prudential – Davis Productivity Awards this year.

APD Chief of Staff Bryan Vaughan said, "We are thrilled to have so many winners from the Agency for Persons with Disabilities. It shows the dedication, creativity, and innovativeness of APD's employees who are so committed to serving Floridians with developmental disabilities."

A team of 11 employees will receive a cash award for their work on closing the Gulf Coast Developmental Center in Fort Myers in 2010.

One two-man team and an individual will receive plaques. The Tacachale Quality Management and Training Team members are Jose Martinez and Michael Holloway who enhanced training programs at the Tacachale Center in Gainesville. The individual winner is Julie Waldman, who is an attorney with the agency at the Tacachale Center. She created an externship program with the University of Florida in Gainesville to have law students assist with administrative law cases.

The other APD teams will receive Certificates of Commendation. The APD Communications Office will receive three certificates for various outreach projects. A 15-member team renovated Hawkins Park in Santa Rosa County to make it accessible to people with disabilities. Another team partnered with the Department of Children and Families to develop a process to begin enrolling foster children going into permanent homes into APD’s Medicaid waiver so they would receive ongoing services. The final winner was a small team from the Tallahassee area that developed a comprehensive database of enrolled Medicaid waiver providers so the information could be quickly given to customers.

The following is the complete list of APD winners:

NOTABLE CASH AWARD

PLAQUE

CERTIFICATE OF COMMENDATION

The agency annually serves about 35,000 Floridians with developmental disabilities of mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, and Prader-Willi syndrome. For more information on the agency, call 1-866-APD-CAREs or visit http://apdcares.org.