Region’s Office of Criminal Conflict honored with Governor’s Sterling Award

Under the leadership of Ita M. Neymotin, the Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, Second Region, has received the 2024 Governor’s Sterling Award in the Team Showcase Competition.

The Sterling Council, a public/private not-for-profit corporation supported by the Executive Office of the Governor, annually honors high-performing organizations with the Governor’s Sterling Award to recognize public and private agencies that demonstrate superior management approaches and strong results.

Team Showcase entrants present improvement projects live-on stage at the Sterling Leadership Conference, which was held May 29-31 in Orlando. Judges evaluate entrants against criteria for project selection, problem statement, root cause analysis, final solution, project implementation, results and presentation.

Group members representing the Regional Counsel performed a skit demonstrating the steps of a dependency court case. Through this exercise, the team showcased the benefits provided by social workers who assist the legal team, a partnership that results in vast financial savings by shortening the time children remain in foster care and reducing the time to family reunification. Once fully implemented region-wide, this dependency program is projected to save Florida taxpayers $30 million while reducing a dependent child’s time in foster care by six months. 

The Regional Counsel represents indigent defendants in certain criminal, dependency and civil cases, as well as appeals and post-conviction motions. The agency’s second region covers 12 counties from Collier County through Pasco County, including inland communities.

“Governor’s Sterling Award recipients are considered role model organizations that are doing things the ‘right way,’” Neymotin said. “Receiving the Sterling Award validates that our office is thinking outside the box to reduce children’s time in foster care while saving taxpayer money.”

About the Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, Second Region The mission of the Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, Second Region, is to provide adequate representation in a fiscally sound manner, while safeguarding constitutional principles with the vision to take a genuine interest in our clients, understand their objectives, and meet or exceed their expectations; and, dedicate ourselves to these values: represent our clients and work hard to provide superior legal services on a timely, effective, and efficient basis, and maintain the highest standards of professional integrity. For more information, please visit flrc2.org.