Deborah Oliver of Las Vegas, a mother of six who started cleftAdvocate, an organization that helps families whose children experience craniofacial disorders such as a cleft lip and palate, was honored for her work Dec. 1 by "The Montel Williams Show."

Oliver accepted a $20,000 award as one of the five finalists in the 2005 VOICES Campaign that recognizes women for their "passion, leadership and achievements as everyday women who make a difference in their communities." Her group educates parents on medical rights and treatment.

Oliver began cleftAdvocate in 2002 with a small Web site designed to help educate local parents about their medical rights and to have someone to talk to about their children's problems. Today, the Web site, www.cleftadvocate.org, has 300 pages.

"I thought it would be helping people in Las Vegas exclusively," Oliver says. "But in seven to 10 days (after starting the Web site) I was getting contacted by people from across the country."

She started the group for personal reasons. Her daughter, Erin Scott, was born in 1987 with a cleft lip and palate. Over the next several years, Oliver and her husband, Robert, who was denied medical insurance for his stepdaughter because she was born with a birth defect, fought with insurance companies to get necessary medical treatments approved.

In the case of jaw surgery, the procedure was canceled 12 hours before the surgery was to take place because the insurance company would not approve it.

"When kids are infants it's very easy for insurance companies to OK treatment, but the biggest fight we had was for jaw surgery," Oliver says. "Even if someone is 18 or 21, there are still ongoing medical problems."

One out of every 700 births has a craniofacial abnormality. It's the fourth most common birth defect.

Oliver continues to work solely on cleftAdvocate, running the Web site out of her home. She also continues to work to ensure that insurance companies cover treatment for the defect.

"We've made a lot of progress in public awareness," Oliver says. "But we've not been successful in getting a federal law passed. I'm bound and determined to get this thing done on a federal level."

The $20,000 award will help cleftAdvocate in a big way, Oliver says. "It was a very nice surprise. Our donations so far have not equalled the amount of the award."

Today, Erin is 18 and studying at the Community College of Southern Nevada to be a pharmacist while working at Becker Enterprises.

"She's very mature for her age," Oliver says of her daughter. "I think that's true of a lot of kids who go through medical situations at a young age. She's a very unselfish, caring person."

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