FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2005

CONTACT: Jana Scoville
(404) 508-7875

Community Members Reappointed and Board Elections Held
for the DeKalb Community Service Board

DECATUR, Georgia - At the July 19 board meeting of the DeKalb Community Service Board (CSB), Shelia A. Brown was elected Chairperson and David F. Sibley was elected Vice Chairperson for the new Fiscal Year 2006. Brown, a resident of Stone Mountain and employee of BellSouth Technology Group, has served on the board for one year due to her specific interest in mental health and addictive diseases.

"I look forward to serving the DeKalb Community Service Board as its new Chair," said Brown. "We have a number of opportunities and a challenge ahead of us with state funding changes posing some tremendous hurdles for CSBs to overcome. But our board is passionate about ensuring the availability of mental health, developmental disabilities and addictive diseases services for our community and is committed to providing exemplary care."

Sibley's passion for substance abuse recovery initially sparked his interest in serving on the board. For the past six years, this LaVista Park resident and Commercial Real Estate Appraiser has served on numerous committees and leadership positions on the DeKalb CSB board and stays active in numerous 12-Step Fellowships.

"As a recovering addict and alcoholic, I am painfully aware of the lack of affordable treatment alternatives within the county and the metropolitan area as a whole. Alcoholics and addicts do recover and become contributing members of our community. There is ample research demonstrating the cost efficiency of treatment verses active addiction and eventual incarceration," explained Sibley. "The recovery services offered by the DeKalb CSB are vital resources for our community, and it is my commitment to preserve what little we have in an environment of ever increasing behavioral healthcare funding cuts."

In addition to the election, board members Sibley, C.O. Hollis of Lithonia, Darren Wallace of Clarkston and Lawrence Sharp of Stone Mountain were recently reappointed to the board. The DeKalb County Board of Health nominated the men for reappointment and then the DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones and the Board of Commissioners of DeKalb County reappointed them for membership at their meeting on June 28. They took the oath as public officers of the state at a swearing in ceremony conducted by DeKalb Probate Judge Jeryl Rosh at the DeKalb County Courthouse on July 19."

The DeKalb CSB is a public corporation and an instrumentality of the State of Georgia created to provide mental health, developmental disabilities and addictive diseases services. The public is invited to DeKalb CSB board meetings held in Room 421 of the EL Richardson Health Center, 445 Winn Way in Decatur. The next meeting will be Tuesday, September 20, 2005. For those with disabilities in need of assistance or accommodations to participate in the meeting, please notify the Office of Community Relations at (404) 508-7875.

To access behavioral health services, the DeKalb CSB has a single point of entry system called the Central Access line, 404-892-4646. Clinicians are available 24 hours per day, seven days per week for assessments, appointment scheduling, referrals and crisis calls.

CUTLINE FOR ATTACHED PHOTOS:
Photo "Sheila Brown" - Stone Mountain resident Shelia Brown was elected Chairperson to the board of the DeKalb CSB for Fiscal Year 2006.
Photo "David Sibley 1" - LaVista Park resident David Sibley was elected Vice Chairperson to the board of the DeKalb CSB for Fiscal Year 2006.
Photo"Board Members 003" - DeKalb Probate Judge Jeryl Rosh swears in (left to right) David Sibley of LaVista Park, Darren Wallace of Clarkston, and C.O. Hollis of Lithonia as Gary Richey, DeKalb CSB Executive Director, observes the ceremony. (Lawrence Sharp of Stone Mountain was reappointed but is not pictured.)
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