Evans woman named to state advisory panel
Gov. Sonny Perdue has tapped an Evans woman to serve on the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists.
Janet Lenard, 50, who directs the Army Substance Abuse Program (ASAP), a comprehensive rehabilitation program at Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center and serves as the Southeast Regional Medical Center Consultant for nine Army Substance Abuse Programs and one partial hospitalization program, is one of two social workers to serve on the nine-member board.
"It's really an honor," Lenard said. "There are over 3,000 social workers (in Georgia). Certainly, any of those could have been selected."
Once a month, Lenard will travel to Macon to review the applications for licenses for social workers.
The appointment was announced on Feb. 13, and she was immediately sent to Macon to fulfill her duties.
"It's a full day of work," she said.
This has been a milestone year for Lenard.
In addition to receiving her three-year appointment, she recently learned that she was named the social worker of the year for the Augusta area by the National Association of Social Workers. She received an award March 4 at the Sheraton Augusta Hotel.
Also, she is close to completing her doctorate in counseling psychology. A graduate of Knoxville College, Knoxville, Tenn., she received her master's degree from the University of Tennessee and has worked at Eisenhower since 1983.
She went into social work because she wanted to make a difference in people's lives.
"I feel that I really have made an impact not only on people's lives, but with the community, educating them on the disease of addiction," she said.
With the Army's zero tolerance for substance abuse and addiction, she feels her position with ASAP is critical to helping people in the military keep their careers.
"There is so much negative publicity about addiction we lose sight that addiction is a medical condition that can be overcome. There are so many success stories of people who've really gotten their lives together," she said.