National Contact: Rick Garcia, rickg@thenationalcouncil.org, 202-684-3753
Local Contact: Gilbert Gonzales, ggonzales@chcsbc.org, 210 731-1300
The Center for Health Care Services’ Leon Evans Honored with National Award for Excellence for Visionary Leader
San Antonio, TX – Leon Evans, President and CEO of The Center for Health Care Services, is being recognized by the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare with the 2011 Awards of Excellence for Visionary Leadership. For the past thirty seven years, Leon Evans has provided extraordinary leadership and demonstrated a tireless commitment to advocating for persons with mental health, substance use and developmental disabilities.
Consistently, Leon’s goal has been to address the challenges found within the public mental health system. He has fought to address a growing problem, that persons with severe mental illnesses find themselves caught up in the criminal justice system. Those living with mental illness are over-represented in emergency rooms, jails and prisons, in large part due to their lack of access to appropriate healthcare services. In just ten years, Leon has been able to collaborate with community stakeholders and create partnerships with medical directors, judges, law enforcement, healthcare providers, families, and consumers.
Under Leon’s leadership, The Center for Health Care Services has seen significant growth, increasing revenue by more than fifty percent in ten years, operating a $61 million budget, to become one of the largest behavioral health provider organizations in the country. Leon has created and nurtured the Bexar County Jail Diversion Program, addressing forty-six intervention points within a jail diversion continuum. With a group of community partners, Leon and his management team developed the Crisis Care Center, a 24/7 psychiatric facility which provides both health and mental health services in one location, and is of special assistance to law enforcement. Working with local police and the Sheriff’s Department, Crisis Intervention Training has been mandated for all departments, resulting in more than 11,000 individuals who have had access to treatment as opposed to automatic incarceration.
"Leon Evans's has a huge heart and his longstanding dedication to helping troubled youth is inspiring," said Linda Rosenberg, MSW, President and CEO of the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. "As a powerful community advocate, Leon works tirelessly to provide hope and a future for those whom society has otherwise discarded."
The Center for Health Care services provides mental health, substance use, and developmental disability services to the community of Bexar County, Texas, and is an example of the best of the best in the behavioral healthcare industry. The Center has been visited by forty-six state delegations, five countries, and is considered by leading authorities to operate the nation’s most successful jail diversion program. The National Leadership Forum on Behavioral Health & Criminal Justice Services listed the Bexar County Program as a prime example of an Essential System of Care.
“We give people what they want and need the most…which is hope” said Leon Evans, President and CEO of The Center for Health Care Services.
Each year the National Council honors individuals and organizations that are the best and brightest in mental health and addictions treatment and services. These are the programs and the people who are ahead of the trends, pioneering new service delivery models, engaging in innovative use of technology, and demonstrating positive outcomes for individuals and families. The Visionary Leader Award is presented to individuals like Leon Evans, who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in the behavioral healthcare field, and who exemplify the values and ideals embraced by the National Council.
The Awards of Excellence will be formally presented to Leon Evans and his fellow nominees on May 3, 2011 during the 41st annual conference of the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare in San Diego, California.
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The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) association of 1,800 behavioral healthcare organizations that provide treatment and rehabilitation for mental illnesses and addictions disorders to nearly six million adults, children and families in communities across the country. The National Council and its members bear testimony to the fact that medical, social, psychological and rehabilitative services offered in community settings help people with mental illnesses and addiction disorders recover and lead productive lives.
The Center for Health Care Services improves the lives of people with mental health, developmental disability, and substance abuse challenges. The Center’s vision is ‘transformed lives, transformed communities. Our values are founded on the hopes of those we serve and driven by integrity. We believe in creating environments that inspire and promote respect for one another and empowerment for all; quality and accountability; creativity and innovation.
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For more information on the 2011 National Council Award winners, and to view winners from previous years, please go to www.thenationalcouncil.org/awards.
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