[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 9751-9752]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        RECOGNIZING THE 75TH BIRTHDAY OF DR. JEAN G. CHAMPOMMIER

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 16, 2015

  Ms.  ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Dr. 
Jean G. Champommier on the celebration of his 75th birthday, and on his 
distinguished career of making our communities healthier and our 
children safer. As a Public Health Commissioner for Los Angeles County, 
as a community leader and a businessman, as an educator, as a social 
worker, and as a family therapist, Dr. Champommier has been a prominent 
part of the continuing fight to make Southern California a better place 
to live and raise a family.
  Since 1983, Dr. Champommier has been the President and CEO of Alma 
Family Services in East Los Angeles. He oversees a diverse and 
multidisciplinary staff of 170 people, spread out across 13 locations, 
22 schools, and seven health facilities. Alma offers multilingual and 
multigenerational community-based services for families. These services 
include behavioral health support, substance abuse services, help for 
individuals with intellectual and developmental special needs, 
preschool services, and clinical support for at-risk youth.
  Dr. Champommier's work at Alma is in keeping with his life's work. 
For more than fifty years, he has worked to advance behavioral health 
and child welfare through community-based efforts. In the 1960s, with 
the help of funds from the Office of Equal Opportunity, he played a key 
role in developing family counseling services in low-income parts of 
Ventura County. These services were an early local version of efforts 
to prevent child abuse and neglect. In the 1970s, he served as Chief of 
Social Services for a behavioral health clinic in Lincoln Heights, 
which set up new behavioral health services at local schools.
  Dr. Champommier has also been a leader on our campuses and in our 
classrooms. He has taught about child welfare and community 
organization at UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Northridge, and Cal State 
L.A. He has served as a social work field instructor at USC and UCLA. 
And he has coordinated conferences on farm labor issues and Latino 
youth empowerment at UC Santa Barbara Extension.
  It is little wonder that Dr. Champommier's work has earned him 
federal, state, and county commendations. I am pleased to add my voice 
to this chorus of congratulations. I thank Dr. Champommier for his many 
years of exemplary dedication to the families and children of my 40th 
Congressional District and beyond. I hope he will celebrate a very 
happy 75th birthday this Saturday, June 20th, with his beautiful wife--
and my good friend--Dr. Marie S. Torres, and their extended family and 
friends.

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