Office of the Mental Health Advocate

Yvonne Sherrill Receives the Department of Human Resources Forensic Services’ 1st Annual Debra Blum Award

The Georgia Department of Human Resources, State Office of Forensic Services presents the first annual “Debra Blum” award to Ms. Yvonne Sherrill. The award recognizes an individual’s exemplary performance and dedication in the area of forensic services.

This year Ms. Sherrill was recognized for her dedication as a behavioral specialist at West Central Georgia Regional Hospital in Columbus, Georgia where she began working in October 2004. She is hailed by her co-workers as being very hard working and attentive to the needs of the consumer.

She is a native of the Republic of Panama and has been in the United States since May 2002. She graduated as a "Licentiate in Psychology" in April 2002 from St. Mary's Catholic University in the Republic of Panama.

Ms. Sherrill is attending Troy State University and will soon be graduating with a Masters Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in December 2006. After her graduation, Ms. Sherrill is planning to enter the Doctoral program with a concentration in neuropsychology at Fielding University beginning January 2007.

Congratulations Ms. Yvonne Sherrill!

GPDSC Mental Health Advocate, Sabrina Rhinehart (left) and award recipient, Yvonne Sherrill

Announcements and Articles
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 2:38 PM

Check here frequently for OMHA news and articles about mental health issues in the criminal justice system.

NEW FACES IN THE OFFICE OF THE MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE

OMHA would like to welcome Jennifer Nicole Lane as a 2008 summer intern. She is a member of the class of 2010 at Nova Southeastern University in Florida. Her undergraduate major was Psychology and she selected the office as the site of her first internship because of her keen interest in the challenges of mentally ill defendants. She plans to continue her legal studies at Nova Southeastern and return to Georgia after attaining her Juris Doctor.

Deborah R Baldwin, Attorney

The Office of the Mental Health Advocate welcomes its’ 2008 Spring volunteer, Ms. Deborah Baldwin as she starts an internship.
Ms. Baldwin comes to OMHA with a great deal of experience, as well as a passion for upholding the rights of the mentally ill. She has worked in the legal profession since 1988. Having trained as a legal executive, she qualified as an attorney in England in July 1996 and her background has been primarily in criminal and mental health law. She obtained an LLM in Medical Law from the University of Northumbria in 2005.

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