NorthKey Community Care, the Northern Kentucky Mental Health –Mental Retardation Regional Board, Inc., celebrated its 50th Anniversary of operation on Monday, June 13th. Three pioneers were honored for their visionary leadership in helping to found and create the organization. NorthKey Community Care has been providing mental health, substance abuse, and developmental disability services to the eight county region of Northern Kentucky for a half century, partly because of the combined efforts of these three individuals that came together for the formation of the Northern Kentucky Mental Health—Mental Retardation Regional Board in 1966.

At the Annual Meeting of the Regional Board, Mr. Daniel B. Howard received the Edward G. Muntel Award, which was presented by Dr. Ed Muntel and Dr. Owen Nichols.  Dr. Muntel served as the President and CEO of NorthKey from 1992 through 2008 and Dr. Nichols is the current President and CEO of NorthKey.  This award was created in Dr. Muntel’s name to recognize a member of the community that has demonstrated a significant level of advocacy or community service that has greatly benefited the Northern Kentucky region.

Mr. Howard was instrumental in the crafting of Kentucky Revised Statute 210, which was the legislation that created Kentucky's community mental health-mental retardation regional boards that now serve over 180,000 Kentuckians in all 120 counties. Kentucky’s community mental health center system was the very first statewide system of behavioral health care in the entire United States. Mr. Howard was sent to Washington D.C. on behalf of Kentucky Governor Bert Combs to work on an initiative for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson to develop protections for people living with mental illness or developmental disabilities. During his career, Mr. Howard served as the Administrator of Eastern State Hospital and was the first Deputy Commissioner of the newly formed Kentucky Department of Mental Health. He later served as the Executive Director of the Kentucky Association of Regional Programs, representing the community mental health centers across Kentucky.

Dr. Nichols said during the award presentation that Mr. Howard has been known for over 50 years for working with consumers, advocates, providers, legislators, governors, and executive branch officials ,and has given voice to the need for accessible, innovative, locally responsive services in community-based settings, thereby positively impacting public mental health policy for decades. Mr. Daniel B. Howard received the Edward G. Muntel Award for his many years of service to the citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky as he was recognized for his lifelong work, dedication, and vision as a pioneer that helped create a statewide system of behavioral health care in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Mr. Wilbert L. Ziegler received the award that was established in his name to recognize individuals who have demonstrated superior volunteer leadership and innovation in the development of programs and services that greatly benefit the Northern Kentucky community.

Mr. Ziegler was the founding Chair of the Northern Kentucky Mental Health—Mental Retardation Regional Board of Directors. Dr. Nichols said during the Award presentation that as Mr. Ziegler has done many times, in 1966 he saw a need for behavioral healthcare services in the Northern Kentucky community and provided the energy and leadership for the formation of the Northern Kentucky Mental Health—Mental Retardation Regional Board.

Mr. Ziegler is the President and senior member of the Northern Kentucky law firm of Ziegler and Schneider P.S.C. and General Counsel of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.  Mr. Ziegler has made a lifelong commitment for the betterment of Northern Kentucky. He served as an officer and director of the Northern Kentucky Industrial Foundation, a non-profit organization that brought over 1,000 acres of industrial development to Boone and Kenton Counties. In 1978, he was elected President of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and then served two terms as a Board member of the Kentucky State Chamber of Commerce. During that same time period he served nine years, during the administration of three Kentucky governors, as a Board member of the Kentucky Industrial Development Finance Authority.
Mr. Ziegler contributed his time and energy toward the formation and construction of the Northern Kentucky Convention Center. He was the first President of the Blessed Sacrament School Board. He has served more than ten years as a member of the Northern Kentucky Independent District Board of Health including a term as Chairman of the Board. He was elected President of the Board of Directors and currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the R.C. Durr Foundation.

Mr. Ziegler is a Life Fellow of the Kentucky Bar Foundation and in 2009, Mr. Ziegler was honored by his peers when he received the Northern Kentucky Bar Association Distinguished Lawyer Award.

Mr. Ziegler received the award from NorthKey that carries his name because he was instrumental in the formation of the Northern Kentucky Mental Health—Mental Retardation Regional Board, Inc., to provide mental health services throughout the eight county region of Northern Kentucky for the benefit of both the mentally ill and persons with disabilities, and served as the Board’s first President and Chair along with his numerous other contributions to the Northern Kentucky area.

Dr. Joseph Willett received the J. Emmanuel Willett Award that was established in his name to recognize individuals who have demonstrated superior administrative and clinical leadership, and innovation in the development of programs and services that benefit the Northern Kentucky community.

Dr. Willett became the founding Executive Director of the Northern Kentucky Mental Health – Mental Retardation Regional Board of Directors in 1966. Dr. Willett was a true visionary and led the organization for over 25 years before his retirement in 1992.

Dr. Willett graduated from St. Jerome High School in Fancy Farm, Kentucky. He completed a Bachelors Degree in Philosophy at St. Mary Seminary and later obtained a Masters Degree in Counseling from Catholic University of America.  He eventually took a bus back and forth to Lexington to complete his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and was then licensed as a psychologist in both Kentucky and Ohio.

Dr. Willett was an instructor at Mt. St. Joseph College from 1954 to 1961. He later went to work for the newly created Kentucky Department of Mental Health from 1961 to 1966, and then became the first Executive Director of the Northern Kentucky Mental Health—Mental Retardation Regional Board in 1966.

He served on the Education Committee of the Kentucky Mental Health Planning Commission from 1964-1966 and once he began his work with the Regional Board he was directly responsible for implementing the PATTERN OF CHANGE in the Northern Kentucky Region to bring mental health, substance abuse, and developmental disability services to the eight county Northern Kentucky region.

While serving as the Executive Director of the Regional Board, he also served as a consultant to the National Institute of Mental Health; served two terms on the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology, and served as Adjunct Instructor at Thomas More College.

He served as the President of the Kentucky Psychological Association from 1977-1978 and continued to serve on the Kentucky Psychological Association Board of Directors in a variety of influential roles for many years before and after serving as the President of the organization.

Dr. Willet was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Kentucky Association of Regional Programs, a Lifetime Member of the American Psychological Association, and was inducted into the Kentucky Psychological Association Hall of Fame in 2015.

These three pioneers are true visionaries, and their leadership and dedication to the development of behavioral healthcare services in the Northern Kentucky region led to the creation of NorthKey Community Care.  Through their vision and leadership, for 50 years NorthKey has been and continues to be the leader in providing mental health, substance abuse, and developmental disability services to the eight county region of Northern Kentucky.