LivingWorks trainer receives Lifetime Achievement Award

[Manitoba, Canada] On May 10, 2007, Val Horner was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba.

Val Horner has been a registered nurse for 38 years with the bulk of her nursing career being in the challenging environment of Corrections where she worked for nearly 25 years. She helped create significant change in the medical area, in the counselling department of the Winnipeg Remand Centre and in the Manitoba Corrections Training Department. In 1982, Val started as a registered nurse in the medical unit in the Winnipeg Remand Centre. She did an assessment and quickly worked to address gaps in the system by recommending corrective changes. She observed that many offenders were in personal crisis and lobbied for a counselling department to address this need. Trying to initiate counselling and other programs to offenders was not easy but her perseverence brought success and the counselling program which was initated in 1986. Through her belief in improving systems, she worked to develop and deliver quality training and to ensure effective evaluation processes and quality control.

She worked towards ensuring the delivery of standardized training for all staff in the area of suicide intervention by lobbying for and promoting the delivery of LivingWorks programs such as ASIST and safeTALK. ASIST is now mandatory training for all recruits and provincial Manitoba Corrections staff. She has also worked to ensure that staff receive standardized mandatory Suicide Prevention Refresher Training and has been instrumental in the development of Manitoba Corrections' Suicide Prevention Policies. Val has partnered with organizations and law enforcement agencies in Manitoba to deliver ASIST and safeTALK programming in her community. She was the driving force in getting ASIST into the course curriculum for new recruits at the Winnipeg Police Academy.

Val mobilized people around her to take action by living her personal values of respect for others, recognizing others strengths, believing in the value of a team approach, and keeping her eyes on “what is surely possible.” She has been and is a continuous learner, teacher, mentor and coach for countless correctional staff and trainers, including ASIST trainers. She is proud of her association with LivingWorks Education in Alberta and of being a Senior Coaching Trainer with them, delivering Training For Trainers courses with them in Canada, the US and in Europe. Through her dedication and perseverance she has not only introduced quality programs to benefit offenders, but also has assisted and provided learning opportunities for staff and managers to enhance their knowledge and develop new skills. Through exemplifying true leadership and providing an outstanding role model, she has made a difference in changing the culture within Manitoba Corrections and in working towards suicide-safer communities.

In November 2003, Val received the Quality Network Champion Award (QNET) for promoting the values of leadership, teamwork and respect, for providing training in areas such as suicide prevention for Manitoba Corrections, the community and for working with offenders, Corrections staff and trainers.

In October 2004, Val received the Corrections Exemplary Service Medal from the Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba who represented Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. This award is presented to persons who have worked in provincial and federal Correctional Services and have provided twenty years of meritorious and loyal service to law enforcement in Canada.

Val retired from Manitoba Justice in March 2007 and continues to work with LivingWorks and members of the community in developing suicide-safer communities.