Citizen Services

Feds@Work: Leading International Crisis Response

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This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features a finalist for the National Security and International Affairs medal Michelle Bernier-Toth, managing director for Overseas Citizens Services in the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs.

When American citizens got caught up in the uprising in Syria, the overthrow of governments in Egypt and Libya, the earthquake in Haiti or other overseas crises, they turned to U.S. embassies and consulates for information and assistance. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 10, 2012 at 1:00 PM

Feds@Work: A Critical Role In Weapons Disposal

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This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features a finalist for the National Security and International Affairs medal, Joyce Connery, director for Nuclear Energy Policy at the National Security Council in Washington, D.C.

A summit of 50 world leaders hosted by President Obama in 2010 resulted in important steps to prevent terrorists from obtaining nuclear materials such as plutonium and highly enriched uranium that could be used to make radiological bombs. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 7, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Feds@Work: FDIC Director Leads Workforce Through Economic Meltdown

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This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features a finalist for the Management Excellence medal, Arleas Upton Kea, director of the Division of Administration at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in Washington, D.C.

As the nation’s economic meltdown unfolded, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) needed to greatly increase its staff to deal with hundreds of failing financial institutions and complete an aggressive set of bank examinations. At the same time, employee surveys revealed there was a declining level of job satisfaction at the regulatory agency. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 6, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Feds@Work: ‘Mr. False Claims Act’ Battled Fraud

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This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features a finalist for the Justice and law Enforcement medal Michael Hertz, who until his death in May was deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Division of the Department of Justice.

To many in the legal community, Michael Hertz was known as “Mr. False Claims Act” for his leading role during the past quarter century in using this important federal law to combat fraud against the federal government. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 4, 2012 at 9:00 AM

White House Continues Push For Federal Effort In Veterans’ Employment

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It’s been a year since the Obama Administration launched a major veteran hiring initiative calling on private industry to partner in an effort to secure employment for military families.


The effort — which has involved the Department of Veterans Affairs and the expanding role of IT in federal agencies — has since resulted in job opportunities for more than 125,000 veterans and their spouses. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 31, 2012 at 1:00 PM

Feds@Work: Initiative Grows Government Employment For Veterans

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This is one in a series of profileson the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features Management Excellence medal finalists from the Office of Personnel Management in Washington, D.C., Joseph Kennedy, deputy associate director, Ray Decker, assistant director and Hakeem Basheerud-Deen, deputy assistant director.

Declaring that the government has an obligation to those who have served and sacrificed in defense of our nation, President Obama in 2009 issued an executive order calling for federal agencies to step up efforts to recruit and hire qualified veterans. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 31, 2012 at 8:00 AM

Feds@Work: NIH Push Helps Reduce Childhood AIDS in US, Worldwide

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This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features a finalist for the Career Achievement medal Lynne Mofenson, chief of the Pediatric, Adolescent and Maternal Branch at the National Institutes of Health in Rockville, Md.

As the number of children with AIDS increased dramatically in the United States and around the world during the late 1980s, the depressing fact was that little could be done to prevent infants from getting HIV, the virus that causes the terrible disease. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 30, 2012 at 9:00 AM

Mobile 311 Catches On With Citizens

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What if you could call your city public works department, located about 45 minutes from your home, request a recycling sticker, and have a city worker show up at your door 18 minutes later? That’s the power of Boston’s new City Worker App.

Piloted last year, the new mobile app integrates seamlessly with the city’s existing 311 system for non-emergency information calls and service requests. It takes all of the service requests made by citizens for potholes, graffiti, streetlight outages, and even recycling stickers, and routes them to the Android-based mobile device of the nearest work crew from the responsible department. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 29, 2012 at 11:01 AM

New Technology To Track Disaster Relief From Hurricane Isaac

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is ready to debut a high-tech tool to provide quicker disaster relief should it be needed after Hurricane Isaac, expected to hit New Orleans on Wednesday.

Federal officials, working to avoid a repeat of the delayed post-Katrina aid, plan to use a new app to track disaster relief rather than a pen-and-paper process for people applying for help. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 28, 2012 at 3:30 PM

Feds@Work: Americorps Team Crucial To Joplin Tornado Recovery

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This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features a finalist for the Homeland Security medal , director of Disaster Services for the Corporation for National and Community Service, and her AmeriCorps team.

Within hours after the nation’s deadliest tornado in nearly 60 years ripped through Joplin, Missouri, killing 161 people and destroying some 7,000 homes and businesses, the first team of AmeriCorps members arrived on the scene to lend a helping hand. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 28, 2012 at 1:00 PM
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