OLYMPIA -- A special state-federal investigative unit in Seattle that looks into suspicious disability claims has won a Social Security Administration (SSA) award for its work in 2006 to combat fraud. The investigators won the same award in 2004.

The Cooperative Disabilities Investigation (CDI) unit includes specialists from the Washington State Patrol, the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), the SSA and its Office of the Inspector General. The unit, often working undercover, targets suspicious disability claims and turns over evidence of fraud to federal and state prosecutors.

The SSA Regional Commissioner's Citation specifically recognizes the unit's fiscal year 2006 accomplishments, although the same unit recently received recognition for ranking No. 1 among similar units nationwide in March 2007 after the Washington investigators recorded savings for state and federal taxpayers of more than $3.3 million that month.

"We have a hard working dedicated group at the Seattle CDI unit, and it pays off. We continue to be one of the best units in the country year after year," said Dr. Martin A.H. "Tony" Jones, Director of the Division of Disability Determination Services (DDDS) in DSHS.

The DDDS employees review and adjudicate disability claims filed with Social Security. When they encounter suspicious circumstances, they can refer the claims to the CDI field staff for further review and undercover work.

DASA MANAGER ELECTED:Emilio Vela Jr. has been elected president of the National Treatment Network (NTN) for the 2007-2009 Biennium.

Vela, a treatment and prevention policy analyst with the Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse (DASA), was elected during the June meeting of the National Association for State Alcohol/Drug Abuse Directors. In the position, he will be able to facilitate communication and serve as an active liaison between the two organizations.

The NTN has established workgroups to address three priorities for the coming year: recovery support services, medication assisted treatment, and successful state strategies.

HRSA RETIREMENTS: Three longtime state employees are leaving the Health and Recovery Services Administration (HRSA) in retirement during July 2007. They are:

Gloria Pardo, a program manager in the Division of Healthcare Services' Office of Transportation and Interpreter Services, is retiring after 36 years of state service. She began her state career as a Welfare Eligibility Examiner 1 in the Toppenish Community Services Office – later working in North Seattle, South Seattle and Olympia. She joined the Medical Assistance Administration, which later became HRSA, in 1990 and most recently has worked in the Office of Transportation and Interpreter Services managing the Federal Financial Participation (FFP) Administrative Match Program. She plans to travel and spend more time with her family: husband Jerry, her 100 year-old mother, her daughter Leah and her two grandsons, Payton and Bridger.

Laura Piliaris began her state service in 1987 as a Cost Reimbursement Analyst with the Division of Developmental Disabilities. She later worked in the DSHS Budget Office and the Aging and Adult Services Administration before transferring to the medical assistance operation as a Fiscal Manager. In recent years, she was a crucial player in capturing and analyzing the data involved in HRSA's development of legislative and policy performance measures. In retirement, she plans to make more time for travel, dancing lessons, volunteer work, quilting, and other artistic pursuits.

Judy Cook of the Division of Eligibility and Service Delivery retired July 13 after a 23-year career in state service. She worked for many years as a financial worker before transferring to the then-Medical Assistance Administration and the Office of Eligibility Policy and Community Education in 1999. She has worked then as Region 2's eligibility representative and was that office's liaison with the Automated Client Eligibility System (ACES).