Hennepin County programs get recognition from national association

The National Association of Counties recently gave top honors to 10 innovative county programs.

Early Childhood Development 
Initiatives to improve outcomes for young children who are involved in county support programs include early developmental screening and improved access to quality child care and education for high needs children and young children who are involved in child protection.

Transition from jail to community initiative
Corrections officers work with public and private partners to provide medium- and high-risk offenders with government and community resources to improve public safety and client outcomes.

Safer Home suicide prevention video
A county-generated video, available on YouTube and viewable on mobile devices, illustrates how family members can analyze the risks in their homes, and remove or secure lethal objects when a loved one is in mental health crisis. The video has been distributed to health, crisis, educational, and mental health networks in Minnesota and nationally.

Community navigators
Human Services clients connect with personal liaisons who help them explore alternative ways to meet personal and family needs other than through county resources. Navigators assess and identify client needs, and locate and connect clients to services in the community.

GEO:CODE event
This two-day event last February offered an opportunity for more than 70 Geographic Information Systems professionals and enthusiasts, technology developers and community members to collaborate on new technology applications using Hennepin County open GIS data sources. Participants worked to devise solutions that improve county services, give residents greater access to government data, and make a difference in our communities. 

GIS road centerline data collaborative project 
A partnership between all metro counties, the state, emergency services agencies and the Metropolitan Council, this group worked to improve transportation data collection that can be used for a variety of transportation network issues, including vehicle routing, address geocoding, next generation 9-1-1 routing and location validation and emergency services dispatching.

Identity and access management project
A web-based, self-service resource for secury, user-friendly and efficient access to Hennepin County systems. Users can safely register, access, manage, and use account information and passwords whether they are in an office or in the field using mobile devices.

Super Kinder: Listos para el kinder
Latino families of incoming kindergartners connect with parent educators, bilingual teens and a youth services librarian in a comfortable and culturallysupportive library environment. Presented entirely in Spanish, the program provides early literacy and family support activities to help children succeed in school.

Pedestrian plan
This strategy to make walking a safe and easy choice for county residents will become part of the county’s overall 2030 transportation systems plan and Complete Streets policy. The plan supports walking and improved health outcomes through infrastructure, facilities, enforcement, education and evaluation. 

Digital Counties survey 
Accomplishments included a centralized housing portal, an upgraded election results application, and an automated citations and filing system that is removing paper from the criminal justice system.

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