NASW-CA Announces Annual State Award Winners

NASW-CA announced the 2017 award winners for their annual state awards that will be presented at their annual conference at the Marriott in San Mateo on October 20.

This year’s Social Worker of the Year Kathleen Adams is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with an established psychotherapy practice in Petaluma, CA. Adams is a pioneer of the Integrative Mediation movement and an online adjunct professor for New York State University and served for ten years as a certified trainer for Bay Area Academy. Prior to opening her private practice, Adams specialized in foster care and adoption for over 15 years and co-founded Five Alive, a teen suicide prevention program.

The Lifetime Achievement awardee is Dr. Jean Schuldberg who has over 25 years of social work practice experience in the areas of mental health, intellectual disabilities, medical social work, and vocational services. Dr. Schuldberg began teaching as adjunct faculty for California State University, Chico from 1989-2002 and retired from the University in 2017 as Professor Emeritus. She has also served on the California Commission on Aging as a governor appointed Commissioner since 2013 and is the current Chair of the Elder Justice Committee.

Dr. Jay Berlin is being honored with Public Citizen of the Year. During the past 40 years, Dr. Berlin has assumed many leadership roles related to the foster care of children including initiating a foster care program for runaway youth for Huckleberry Youth Services (now Alternative Family Services, Inc. or AFS). He served as a founding member of the national Foster Family Treatment Association (FFTA) and served as national president twice.

This year, NASW-CA will present the inaugural Organization of the Year award to the Russian River Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a community service association that focuses on the needs of the Russian River community.

The awards will be presented during a luncheon and offers a place to both celebrate the winners and to network. Conference registration deadline is September 29. Registration discounts are offered to NASW members, social work students, retired social workers, early registrants, and volunteers who serve as classroom monitors. Discounted hotel rates available to conference attendees.

For more information visit http://www.naswca.org/?page=96 or email naswleg@naswca.org.