Governor Appoints Jewel Norman Mental Health Ombudsman
Wednesday, July 8, 2009 |
Contact: Office of Communications 404-651-7774
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ATLANTA– Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that he has appointed Jewel Norman as the State Disability Services Ombudsman.
“Along with creating a stand alone agency for developmental disabilities, the appointment of Jewel Norman as the mental health ombudsman is another step in improving the state’s care and delivery of services to the mental health community,” said Governor Perdue. “Ms. Norman has a wealth of public and private experience managing human services.”
The mental health ombudsman is a five year appointment. In January, the Governor organized a committee to nominate candidates for ombudsman. Member of the committee included Mary Burns, Nora Haynes,
“I look forward to working with the advocacy and provider community to promote system-wide improvements in mental health, developmental disabilities and addictive disease,” said
The ombudsman will investigate and make recommendations to the department and other agencies, establish a uniform state-wide complaint process, collect and record data relating to complaints with regard to service providers, recommend law and policy changes, and make a biennial written report documenting types of complaints reported by consumers.
“This is a great day for people with mental illness and co-occurring disorders and their families,” said Nora Haynes, President of the
Jewel
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