NASW-CA Honors Social Workers with Special Awards

Dr. Donna Jensen: Social Worker of the Year
NASW-CA is proud to announce that Dr. Donna Jensen is the recipient for the NASW State Social Worker of the Year Award.

The Social Worker of the Year Award honors a member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) who exemplifies the best of the profession’s values and achievements through specific accomplishments. In honoring the Social Worker of the Year, NASW highlights superb accomplishments in the practice of social work.

As an instructor and the Distributed Learning Coordinator for CSU Chico’s MSW program, Dr. Jensen is also known for her many projects relating to diversity and mental health. These include the development of numerous MSW programs highlighting specialized training protocol for students working with seniors, and securing funding to increase the number of MSWs who work in Northern California. As an advocate for community members diagnosed with a mental illness, Dr. Jensen has worked to implement funding to develop a “warm line” to provide sub-acute phone support for those individuals, even securing a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant to provide housing for twelve individuals diagnosed with severe mental illness in her community.

Outside academia, Dr. Jensen works extensively with older adults, adults with developmental disabilities, the terminally ill, and within the behavioral health system.

John Ryan: Lifetime Achievement Award
NASW-CA is also proud to announce that John Ryan
has won the NASW State Lifetime Achievement Award.

Each year, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) selects a social worker for this award to celebrate a lifetime of achievement. In honoring the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, NASW recognizes the best social work values and accomplishments demonstrated in the social worker’s lifetime career.

An advocate for those with mental health issues and substance abuse for 44 years, Ryan has achieved many things in the realm of mental health services. Some of his many accomplishments as a social worker include his work with Orange County Mental Health and his role as the former director of Riverside County Department of Mental Health for 24 years. In that time, he developed new models of comprehensive programming and planning, taking into account the challenges faced by those with mental health issues. He also was aware of the need to provide services in multiple languages, and was instrumental in making that a reality. He also employed individuals who had lived with mental illness within the Riverside County system, enabling them to help others with their experiences.

Now retired, Ryan continues to advocate as part of the California Mental Health Directors Association, Statewide Mental Health Planning Council, and the Office of Statewide Health Planning, and is currently working on a project with the Southern California Regional Partnership (SCRP) that seeks to improve competency and knowledge for clinicians working within the realm of mental health.

Shirley Krohn: Public Citizen of the Year
NASW-CA recently announced Shirley Krohn as
the recipient for the 2014 NASW Public Citizen of the Year Award.

The Public Citizen of the Year Award honors an outstanding member of the community whose accomplishments exemplify the values and mission of professional social work.

A member of the California Senior Legislature since 2006 and an advocate for California’s older adult population, Krohn has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of seniors. Four of her proposals regarding the care and lives of seniors have been signed into law, including one regarding the requirements of State Ombudsmen to report elder abuse to district attorneys.

Using her knowledge, she has developed programs at CSU Chico to incorporate learning models for MSW students interested in the aging population.

Among her many accomplishments and work on various boards, Shirley was instrumental in proposing AB 663 which was passed in 2013. This bill mandates that administrators of residential care facilities be required to obtain five hours of training in cultural competency and sensitivity in aging lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender minority issues. AB 663 was highlighted as one of the bills that more than 900 students addressed at NASW’s Legislative Lobby Days in 2013.