PA Gaming Control Board Recognized For Its Support of Problem Gambling Awareness Programs

HARRISBURG: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has been presented the first annual Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Government Agency in the field of Problem Gambling from the Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania.

The PGCB’s Director of the Office of Compulsive and Problem Gambling, Nanette L. Horner, accepted the award yesterday during the Council’s statewide problem gambling conference in Harrisburg.

The award, presented jointly by Joanna Franklin, the Council’s Conference Chair and Director of Education, and Council President Jim Pappas, lauds the entire PGCB for “its outstanding pioneering efforts in supporting education, awareness and responsible gaming programs”.

In accepting the award, Horner noted that the Board’s programs and outreach initiatives could not have been as successful without the collaborative efforts of government representatives and agencies, non-profit organizations like the Council, and the gaming industry.

Horner also noted that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, at the outset of its creation, was committed to understanding and lessening the devastating effects of pathological gambling. For example, she said the PGCB is the only oversight agency in the United States to establish a director level office that is dedicated to ensuring that every slot machine operator establishes and then maintains meaningful compliance with an approved compulsive and problem gambling plan.

In addition, the Office of Compulsive and Problem Gambling:
•   creates problem gambling materials;
•   heightens public awareness of the dangers of compulsive, problem, intoxicated and underage gambling;
•   creates problem gambling outreach programs;
•   researches and develops prevention programs and harm reduction tools for gamblers;
•   establishes education programs for residents of all ages; and,
•   directs problem gamblers and their families to appropriate assistance organizations for crisis counseling, referral services and treatment.

The Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania is a nonprofit organization affiliated with the National Council on Problem Gambling. Its purpose is to educate and disseminate information on compulsive gambling and to facilitate referrals.

For more information about the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, and to access additional information and web links offered through its Office of Compulsive and Problem Gaming, visit www.pgcb.state.pa.us.

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