Fairfax County has been honored with four National Association of Counties (NACo) 2018 Achievement Awards, recognizing effective and innovative programs that contribute to and enhance county government in the United States. Nationally, awards are given in 18 categories, including children and youth, criminal justice, county administration, information technology, health, civic engagement and many more.

The awards will be presented at NACo’s 2018 Annual Conference and Exposition, July 13-16 in Nashville/Davidson County, Tennessee.

The award recipients and categories are:

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  Revitalize, Restore, Replant! (Civic Education and Public Information) — This free-of-charge program transforms existing stormwater facilities on Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) campuses into real-world teaching tools. Stream ecologists from the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) introduce students to stormwater and watershed ecosystems management through hands-on native plant installations in existing bioretention or dry pond facilities.
• Silver Shield Anti-Scam Education Program (Civic Education and Public Information) — In 2017, more than 37 percent of all fraud committed in Fairfax County involved victims over the age of 50. Identity fraud, credit card fraud and selling goods and services under false pretenses are just a few of the types of cases seen daily in Fairfax County. The Silver Shield campaign shares critical information to help older adults avoid scams. It builds on the education programs provided by various county agencies, allowing for consistent countywide messaging, efficient use of resources and creative methods of reaching older adult communities.
• Taking a Citizen First Approach to a Website Redesign (Civic Education and Public Information) —The Fairfax County website supports the county's goal of a "government without walls, doors, or clocks," providing essential information about county programs and resources, along with over 100 online services. The site reflects the beauty of Northern Virginia, while also corralling content from more than 50 governmental departments and offices, presenting it in an intuitive way. The newly imagined site demonstrates how cooperation, technology and design can bring the strengths of modern web applications to benefit a wide array of users.
• Customizing Data for Health and Human Services Planning (Human Services) — The Medallion Program enhances capital improvement planning and targets service delivery in county Health and Human Services (HHS). For the first time, consistent, detailed, sub-county level data is available for HHS staff to analyze how environmental conditions impact service demands for specified communities. The program transforms disparate data into actionable information and provides a common dataset to support collaboration and coordination with the Department of Planning and Zoning to foster improvements in the design phase and better define infrastructure needs based on demographic, economic and other social characteristics.

To find out more about the programs search “Fairfax County awards” at www.fairfaxcounty.gov.