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October 21, 2005 - Tom Ambrose Receives Illinois Probation and Court Services Association Exemplary Service Award

Tom Ambrose, Senior Training Coordinator in the Center’s Institute for Legal and Policy Studies, has been named recipient of the Exemplary Service Award at the Illinois Probation and Court Services Association. Michael Torchia, president of the IPCSA Executive Board and Director of the Sangamon County Adult Probation Department, presented the award during ceremonies at the IPCSA Conference on October 20, 2005. The Exemplary Service Award, previously designated as the Citizen Award, is presented annually to an individual in recognition of his or her dedication and commitment to furthering probation and court services.

Torchia observed, “Through Tom’s dedication, hard work, and patience the court services field has been enhanced and the message of providing effective probation services to the state has been spread to hundreds of officers. His diligent efforts have helped to advance training programs into the 21st century.” “The week-long ‘basic training’ for probation and detention officers is now much more interactive and skill-based,” said Torchia, “and we now have an online training program for detention that has drawn the admiration of the American Probation and Parole Association.”

Nancy Ford, Interim Director of the Institute for Legal and Policy Studies, noted, “I am proud of Tom for receiving this award. He has made outstanding contributions to the state and the profession as a result of his efforts in coordinating training programs for probation and court services professionals. His leadership efforts reflect positively on the university and our work in the Institute.”

“I am very pleased to receive this award from those I consider to be my colleagues,” said Ambrose. “This is the greatest kind of award anyone can receive.” Some of Ambrose’s current duties include working with AOIC staff to develop an online curriculum for probation officers, as well as helping to develop training videos for sex offender supervision, training CDs on methamphetamine, and other training tools used by Illinois probation departments.

During the IPCSA Conference, Ambrose also presented the Institute’s annual Innovative Leadership Award to the Community Transition Program at the Sangamon County Juvenile Center. This award is made to a program in detention or probation that exemplifies innovation and leadership in offender program development and that has demonstrated evidence of effective outcomes with clients. Terry Moore (Superintendent of the Sangamon County Juvenile Center) and Glen Homolka (Program Supervisor of the Sangamon County Juvenile Center’s Community Transition Program) accepted the award on the behalf of the Sangamon County Juvenile Center.