The Ombuds Blog: Fairfax County, Virginia, Unveils Ombuds Program for Community Services

November 19, 2024

Fairfax County, Virginia, Unveils Ombuds Program for Community Services

The Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, a county agency, has created an Office of the Ombuds Advocate to assist individuals and their families in resolving service-related concerns related to mental health, substance use, and developmental disabilities. Jenna Beebe-Aryee is the inaugural Ombuds and Program Manager. According to a new website for the office, the CSB Ombuds Advocate will practice to IOA standards.

Beebe-Aryee brings nearly two decades of public sector experience. Most recently, she was the Supervisory Program Manager of the Fatality Review Unit for the District of Columbia's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for over nine years. Prior to that, she was the Director and Ombudsman of the DC Child and Family Services Agency. She gradauted from George Washington University and earned her MSW at Howard University. (CSB Advocate Ombuds; LinkedIn.)

1 comment:

Tom Kosakowski11/19/2024 6:11 AM
In this context, the title "Advocate Ombuds" is an oxymoron.
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Organizational Ombuds

Organizational Ombuds serve as a confidential, independent, neutral and informal dispute resolution resource for a specific entity. They are accessible to a defined population and can advocate for fairness. These unique characteristics distinguish Organizational Ombuds from Classical Ombuds, mediators, arbitrators, and other alternative dispute resolution professionals. The term "Ombuds" is shorthand for "Ombudsman," "Ombudsperson" and "Ombuds Officer," which also are used widely.

Some other variants include:

Austria -- Ombudsstelle

Brazil -- Ouvidor

Croatia -- pravobranitelji

France -- médiateur/defénseur

Germany -- Ombudspersonen

Italy -- difensore

Netherlands -- ombudspersoon

Norway -- ombudet

Poland -- Rzecznik

Portugal -- provedor

Russia -- омбудсмен

Spain -- ombudsman organizacional

Sweden -- studentombud

Switzerland -- ombudsmann

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