The Achiever of the Month Award was established by former Department of Social Services Director Gerald H. Miller in October of 1993 to commemorate the first anniversary of To Strengthen Michigan Families.  The award recognizes public assistance recipients who have demonstrated outstanding progress toward self-sufficiency.

To Strengthen Michigan Families, Michigan’s welfare reform initiative, was first implemented in October 1992. After the first year of this program, we wanted to show how our reforms successfully helped clients gain self sufficiency in Michigan. Also, by focusing on the success of individuals who have benefited from our programs and services, the general public could gain a better understanding of how our welfare programs help to strengthen families. Since October 1993, the “Achiever of the Month” award has been presented to and accepted by individuals on behalf of many others in the system who have overcome similar barriers on the road to independence.

These “Achievers” are chosen because they best represent the achievements of many public assistance recipients who either succeed in getting off assistance by getting a job, or who make tremendous progress toward independence by overcoming some major barriers to employment. We solicit names from the County Department of Human Services (DHS) offices and our Office of Communications reviews and selects the individuals on the Director’s behalf.

As a condition of receiving the award, the Achievers agree to let their names, photographs and stories be used to help promote changes in Michigan’s welfare system. Some of the Achievers have been invited to give testimony before state and federal committees and have been interviewed by national and local media on welfare reform. They all have been asked to participate in the DHS Director's Client Advisory Committee which meets on a quarterly basis.

Once each month, the DHS Director travels to a different location in the state to conduct the Achiever ceremony. The Achiever's family, friends, employers, clergy, DHS and Michigan Jobs Commission staff are invited to the ceremony along with the local state representative(s) and senator. The Michigan Congressional delegation is contacted on behalf of the achiever and they frequently send a representative and tribute to the ceremony. Former Governor John Engler personally attended several ceremonies, and he hosted a luncheon in November 1994 for the first year’s Achievers. To date, Michigan has celebrated 50 Achievers of the Month. These celebrations have done a great deal for our Achievers, their friends and families, their employers, our workers, our agency’s reputation and for our communities by acknowledging those outside our agency who have helped in a client’s success.

On November 18, 1997, former Governor Engler hosted another luncheon to celebrate welfare reform success in Michigan. All the Achievers from the past two years, their employers, as well as media were invited. It was an excellent opportunity for the former Governor to hear about the many barriers former public assistance recipients faced as they became employed and moved to self-sufficiency and to hear about the barriers employers face in hiring these recipients. The luncheon was well attended and the input received will help improve existing policy and help shape future policy.