University of Washington School of Social Work and Partners for Our Children Awarded Top National R...( Public-Private Partnership Receives...),Health

Public-Private Partnership Receives 2008 American Public Human Services

Academic Excellence Award

SEATTLE, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Washington School of Social Work (UWSSW) and its new innovative center, Partners for Our Children (POC) has been selected by the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) as the recipient of the 2008 Academic Excellence Award.

"The partnership is a unique public-private collaboration between the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), the University of Washington School of Social Work, and private sector committed to making positive changes in the child welfare system," said Robin Arnold-Williams, Secretary of the Washington Department of Social and Health Services who nominated the School.

"We are honored to receive this top national honor for excellence on behalf of children and families," said Edwina Uehara, Dean of the School of Social Work. "We believe by bringing not only the resources of the UWSSW, but all the disciplines of the university together, we will reach our goal of improving services provided by the child welfare system."

In addition to serving as the home for POC, the UW School of Social Work also houses the Child Welfare Training and Advancement Program, which focuses on training new social workers and those already in the field in state-of-the-art child welfare practice.

"We are grateful for and honored by the recognition provided by this human services award," said Mark Courtney, executive director, POC. "It is through partnerships such as ours -- grounded in rigorous evidence about what families truly need -- that real child welfare reform will take place."

POC's work involves research directed towards improving understanding of the needs of children and families, development and evaluation of promising approaches to improving outcomes for foster children, workforce development activities i
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