2016 Review: Health and Wellness

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The Health and Wellness Service Team is comprised of the departments of Community Corrections, Financial Assistance Services, Healthcare Services, Public Health, Social Services and Veterans Services. As a service team, the departments work together to provide resources for residents to succeed in their community and careers. 

Highlights of this team's work in 2016 include:

  • Financial Assistance Services and Social Services staff assisted thousands of clients every day, connecting these residents with support to help meet their basic needs.

    2016 Public Health Awards recipients Visions in Living Life - Change is Possible
    2016 Public Health Awards recipients
    Visions in Living Life - Change is Possible

  • Public Health achieved national accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board, becoming one of fewer than 200 departments nationwide to have done so. The department also honored three exceptional community projects and programs with Public Health Awards.
  • Ramsey County partnered with Washington County through the joint Recycling and Energy Board to assume ownership and management of the Recycling & Energy Center. The facility converts trash into fuel used to generate enough electricity to power tens of thousands of homes.  
  • Environmental Health staff provided programs to help residents safely dispose of, recycle or repair hundreds and hundreds of tons of various waste materials.
    Commissioner Reinhardt speaking at National Adoption Day 2016
    Commissioner Reinhardt, chair of the
    board, speaks at National Adoption Day
  • Staff worked with families to finalize 88 adoptions, including 16 on National Adoption Day. 
  • The county honored its 325 licensed foster care providers at an annual banquet, continuing a 30-year tradition.
  • Community Corrections staff supervised and worked with more than 20,000 offenders through probation and at the Correctional Facility, Juvenile Detention Center and Boys Totem Town. The number of individuals in each of these programs continue to decline as increasing numbers of offenders are successfully reintegrated into the community. For example, dozens of inmates graduated from culinary, landscaping and laundry vocational programs at the Ramsey County Correctional Facility in 2016 – providing employment opportunities and stability.
  • Healthcare Services expanded mental health services at the Adult Detention Center to provide a continuous connection to community services for inmates upon their release.
  • Veterans Services provided assistance to many of our military veterans, an estimated 27,000 of whom live in Ramsey County.
  • Ramsey County recognized 30 years of public-nonprofit partnership with Regions Hospital.