Three teams of FSSA employees will receive the 2024 Governor’s Public Service Achievement Award from Governor Eric J. Holcomb for their outstanding work providing great government service.

The winning teams focused on work combatting the drug epidemic and infant and maternal mortality, transforming Indiana’s mental health crisis response system and returning to normal Medicaid operations after the public health emergency.

“These awards shine a light on three very important FSSA programs and the teams doing the transformative work to make each one successful,” said Dr. Dan Rusyniak, M.D., FSSA Secretary. “All three highlight innovation, exceptional government service and profound community impact, showcasing measurable outcomes that have set Indiana apart on a national level.”
The awards will be given at a ceremony Oct. 30 at the Indiana Statehouse Atrium with Gov. Holcomb.

The Indiana Pregnancy Promise Program made significant strides in advancing two of Gov. Holcomb's main pillars. The program has supported more than 1,000 mothers since it launched in 2021, and resulted in high rates of sustained recovery for mothers, continuity of medications prescribed to treat opioid use disorder, prevention of preterm births, healthy infant birth weights, and access to resources to address unmet health related and social needs including stable housing, transportation, food security and child care, leading to family preservation and reunification. The team members are: Matthew Dukeshire, Data Scientist, Dr. Maria Finnell, M.D., FSSA’s Chief Medical Officer, Cristian Guandique, FSSA’s Deputy Director of Data Science and Engineering, Carey Michels, Pregnancy Promise Program Specialist, Andrea Vermeulen, Grants Manager, Elizabeth Wahl, Pregnancy Promise Program Director

The 988 Crisis Team significantly improved access to vital mental health services, ensuring that individuals in crisis receive timely and compassionate support. Indiana’s five 988 Response Centers’ in-state answer rate of 92% puts the state in the top 10 of the nation. The call centers received more than 7,700 calls in July, compared to 3,700 in July 2022, when the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline launched in Indiana. The 988 Crisis Response System has rapidly grown and can now dispatch mobile crisis teams in more than two-thirds of the state’s 92 counties and has funded 19 Crisis receiving and stabilization service providers. The team members are: Kara Biro, DMHA’s State Director of Behavioral Health Crisis Care, Becky Buhner, DMHA’s Deputy Director/Chief of Staff, Amy Duke, FSSA’s Deputy Communications, Director  Lindsay Potts, DMHA’s Director of System Transformation, Jim Rose, FSSA’s Chief Technology Officer

The Medicaid Unwind Team, including the FSSA Division of Family Resources, Indiana Medicaid and IT/Data and Communications teams, showed exceptional leadership, dedication and innovative strategies in successfully navigating the unprecedented challenges associated with the end of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency and subsequent return to normal operations. The team sought to understand and tailor solutions to Hoosiers supported by FSSA. The team members are: Brian Arrowood, FSSA’s Chief Information Officer, Sunshine Beam, DFR’s Interim Director, Michele Holtkamp, FSSA’s Communications Director, Katie Hunter, DFR’s Eligibility Program Director, Christopher Schroeder, DFR's Director of Learning and Development, Nonis Spiner, Medicaid’s Director of Eligibility Services and Membership

Congratulations to all the awardees who continue to showcase FSSA’s mission, “To compassionately serve our diverse community of Hoosiers by dismantling long-standing, persistent inequity through deliberate human services system improvement.”

Indiana Pregnancy Promise Program Team

988 Crisis Team

Medicaid Unwind Team