Last month, the Lafayette office celebrated the long tenure of three GCTFS employees: Michele Hargrave (20 years of service), Janice Sylvester (15 years of service), and Jodie Harvey (10 years of service). Don Short, Regional Director, treated Michele, Janice, and Jodie to dinner at Café Vermillionville where he thanked them for their commitment to the Agency and remitted each one a commemorative plaque. Here is more information about those three exceptional ladies:

• Michele is a true multitasker! She is the Program Director of Trappey House, as well as the Director of Quality Assurance for the Lafayette Region. And when she is not busy assisting the Waiver programs supervisors with meeting state regulations, she also oversees and helps with the billing aspects of the Medicaid programs. She says that "keeping busy with a variety of tasks and people keeps me and the job interesting! And that is why I think I have been with GCTFS for 20 years."
• Janice began working with GCTFS as a mastered level counselor in the Mental Health Rehabilitation program fifteen years ago. She is currently the Program Director of the Comprehensive Children Mental Health Services, CART, in which she serves as the Crisis Care Coordinator for region IV, and the Trackers mentoring program. Prior to holding those responsibilities, she was the Program Director for the Therapeutic Foster Care and the Family Involvement Facilitator programs.
  She received her masters in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling in 1988 and is a Licensed Rehabilitation Counselor, Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner, and a National Certified Counselor. Janice appreciates working at GCTFS because it gives her "the opportunity to continue to learn and grow as a mental health professional."
• Jodie has been with GCTFS for 10 years as the Administrative Assistant to both Regional Director, Don Short, and his Executive Assistant, Brenda Melancon. For a brief period of time, she also worked as a Program Director for ACT and another program in the school system. During her career at GCTFS, she has developed close friendships with many other employees. One of the reasons she enjoys her job is that "Brenda and Don are great to work for."

From left to right: Jodie Harvey, Janice Sylvester, Michele Hargrave and Don Short.