Patricia Nettleton has been awarded the State Employee of the Month Award for July.
Nettleton, who is a children's service worker in Missouri's Social Services/Children's Division in Kennett, was cited for her work on a case from Jan. 19.
Her supervisor, Misty Hankins, said Nettleton worked all day to find placement for an autistic child on her caseload.
The current foster parent wanted the child moved from their home and refused to take her back.
Hankins said Nettleton researched every possibility for placement including county foster parents, out-of-county foster parents, and every hospital and residential facility. She eventually located two facilities that would accept the child, but they were located in Bolivar, five hours away, and St. Louis, three hours away. Neither facility would transport due to the inclement weather that night. So Nettleton and Hankins took the child at 4 p.m. to St. Louis with "questionable" road conditions. They did not return to Kennett until about 1:30 a.m. the next day.
"Patricia put her family aside to meet the needs of this particular child," Hankins said. "Patricia worked after normal work hours and missed an award ceremony for her son to better serve the family on her caseload.
"As her supervisor, I believe that Patricia went above and beyond to ensure this child's needs were met and put her own personal life on the back burner. This shows her dedication to her job and the families she serves."
Missouri's State Employee of the Month is selected by the State Employee of the Month Selection Committee from among nominations submitted by the 16 state departments and some elected offices. The six committee members also are members of the State Training Advisory Council.