Thursday, January 18, 2018

On Jan. 18, the Child Welfare Training & Advancement Program (CWTAP) received the 2018 Martin Luther King Jr. Community Volunteer Recognition Award. The tribute recognizes the distinguished service of community members in the six health science schools: dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, public health, medicine and social work. This event is part of a series of UW MLK Week celebrations and performances. 

CWTAP, which began in 1992, promotes training excellence for Washington state’s child welfare workforce and provides financial support to social work students and professionals. The state-funded partnership links the resources of the School of Social Work, Alliance for Child Welfare Excellence and the state’s Department of Social and Health Services’ Children’s Administration. Since its inception, the program has graduated more than 300 MSW professionals.

 “CWTAP has diligently worked to meet its goals of educating and training a culturally humble, racially diversified, equity-focused committed workforce,” noted Nancy Farwell, associate professor, in her nominating letter. “CWTAP is committed to a multi-systemic collaborative approach, serving students, communities, the welfare of children and families, and the social work profession. The CWTAP team itself is an example of excellence in the profession of social work and the field of child welfare…with a combination of more than 100 years of experience.”

The CWTAP team was first honored at a School of Social Work breakfast celebration and later in the day at a UW Health Sciences Center ceremony with a keynote by Jorge Barón of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.​ (Pictured, left to right: Beth Van Fossan, Cynthia Dickman, Gerilyn Myers, Glen Gonzalez, Poonam Lata, Lara Thompson and Kathy Taylor; CWTAP team members not pictured: Zynovia Hetherington, Larisa Baturevych, Angela Rambo and Bashenai Williams.) The annual community volunteer recognition event, sponsored by the UW Health Sciences Administration and the UW Medical Center, commemorates Martin Luther King Jr., and his legacy of strength, resilience and compassion that has sparked civic responsibility and action around the globe.