2011 National Public Service Awards Presented in Baltimore

The American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) and the National Academy of Public Administration (the Academy) presented the 2011 National Public Service Awards in Baltimore on March 14^th. The awards recognize excellence in public service at all levels of government. In presenting the awards to Col. Joyce A. Adkins and Lester P. Claravall, Carl Stenberg noted that award founder and former Comptroller General Elmer B. Staats believed the NPSAs are "the Nobel Prize of public service."

Colonel Joyce A. Adkins, PhD, MPH, is the Commander, 633d Medical Operations Squadron at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia . She designed and implemented the Post-Deployment Health Reassessment program to identify and treat health concerns after combat deployments and re-engineered psychological health and traumatic brain injury (TBI) services for military personnel and veterans.

A psychologist, Dr. Adkins has been recognized as a pioneer in occupational health psychology and aviation safety. She is a strong advocate for quality of life programs and has served on White House working groups to advance community empowerment efforts and has supported congressionally-directed task forces to improve psychological health services for military communities.

In accepting the award, Col. Adkins said she entered the Air Force while in her 30s, later than many career members of the military. When her recruiter called to say he had her first orders, her response was that it was fine for him to say he had her assignment, but she "did not take orders." His response was that she would have a great time in the Air Force. And, while she now accepts the orders that transfer her to a new location every two years, she has had a rewarding career of 27 years. She characterized her service as "an opportunity to give back" to her country.

In nominating her, Col. Eric Stone noted that Col. Adkins laid the groundwork for free and confidential counseling for military families and helped to develop the Air Force Suicide Prevention Program, which received presidential recognition as a model for the nation. Her work in forming the Military Family Research Institute created an on-going research effort to better support military families affected by deployments.

After the attack on the Pentagon, Col. Adkins served as clinical director for Operation Solace, which brought care coordination to primary care facilities in the Washington DC area. In a deployed setting, Col Adkins led the Military-Political Policy team for the Multi-National Force-Iraq during the stand-up of the new Iraqi government. She has served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan .

Lester P. Claravall, MHR, is the child labor coordinator for the Oklahoma Department of Labor. He has said that he " loves working with children and believes that a single death is intolerable when it comes to teen workers."

Claravall created first-ever partnerships, publications, and programs to increase protection of Oklahoma's working minors. He led the charge to replace the antiquated paper work permit system with an online work permit process and created the national award-winning "Paying Attention Pays," whose game format teaches students about workplace rights and has been shared with more than 30 countries on four continents. More than 25,000 students have participated in the award-winning program.

As he accepted the award, Claravall said that his office had worked with other state agencies to combine resources to work for safer conditions for employed children. He noted that they did not worry about credit, they "were working together for the greater good."

To protect children from exploitation and endangerment, Claravall created the state's first-ever door-to-door safety awareness poster and brochure to educate parents and teens about illegal youth peddling. He served as national president of the Interstate Labor Standards Association and his written contributions and feedback made to the National Young Worker Health and Safety Network led to changes to the federal child labor laws.

In nominating him, James Carlton, Jr. said that Claravall's efforts to protect the nation's youngest workforce "have enabled the Child Labor Unit to keep thousands of Oklahoma children safe at work and in good-standing at school."

ASPA and the Academy established the National Public Service Awards in 1983 to honor individuals whose accomplishments are models of public service within and outside the work environment. The NPSA Program recognizes individuals who exhibit the highest standards of excellence, dedication, and accomplishment over a sustained period of time and who are creative and skilled career managers across all sectors of public service. Past winners have included former Secretary of Health and Human Serices Donna Shalala, Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, Frank Fairbanks, former City Manager of Phoeniz, and Maria Gomez of the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Members of the 2011 Selection Committee are Mary Hamilton, Elaine Orr, Paul Posner, and Carl Stenberg