Boone County News Release

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Boone County Commissioner Janet Thompson Named Commissioner of the Year by County Commissioners Association of Missouri

March 23, 2023 – Boone County Commissioner Janet Thompson was named the 2022 Commissioner of the Year by the County Commissioners Association of Missouri (CCAM) during its Annual Training on March 2, 2023. Each year, one of Missouri’s 327 county commissioners is chosen by the CCAM President to be recognized with this award.

Commissioner Tim Brinker, 2022 CCAM President, chose to recognize Commissioner Thompson because of her leadership and the “passion she exudes about anything she gets behind.” Commissioner Brinker specifically identified Commissioner Thompson’s commitment to mental health and serving the more vulnerable members of the community, saying, “Her work provides a model which every commissioner should follow. I believed her effort and passion for a subject that touches so many needed to be recognized.”

Since Commissioner Thompson was elected in 2012, she has had a significant impact on the way our community addresses the needs of those living with mental illness, particularly within the criminal justice system. Commissioner Thompson was the driving force behind the county’s involvement in the Stepping Up Initiative, a nationwide initiative developed by the National Association of Counties (NACo) which focuses on reducing the number of people with mental illness in county jails. Through Stepping Up, she brought organizations within our community together and helped them to develop partnerships to better serve individuals living with mental illness. She is also a strong proponent of our community’s increased utilization of Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training, which provides first responders with intervention strategies and alternatives to assist in directing individuals with mental illness to the appropriate health care systems during crisis contacts and reduce their involvement in the criminal justice system, as well as Mental Health First Aid training.

Janet currently serves as a board member for both the Missouri Association of Counties (MAC) and the County Commissioners Association of Missouri (CCAM). She also currently serves on the NACo Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee, the NACo Healthy Counties Advisory Board, and the MAC Policing/Justice/Mental Health Steering Committee. She is also one of a select group of local officials from across the nation chosen as the inaugural cohort of the National Association of Counties’ Familiar Faces Leadership Network, a leadership opportunity within the Familiar Faces Initiative: Improving Outcomes through Coordinated Health and Justice Systems.

Janet is the Commission liaison for the Boone County Community Services Department which focuses on reducing risk factors for at-risk youth and families and improving the odds of success for children, families, and our community. Additionally, Janet’s service as Commission liaison to the Board of Health, Boone County Family Resources, and Central Missouri Community Action connects her to not only the healthcare needs and resources in our community at large, but also to the vulnerable populations who are often most in need of healthcare access and advocacy.

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