On Thursday, November 16 in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) presented its 2017 Adoption Excellence Award to Dr. Gerald P. Mallon – the Julia Lathrop Professor of Child Welfare and Associate Dean for Scholarship and Research at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College.
Dr. Mallon (pictured) received this distinguished award alongside fellow honorees at HHS’s National Adoption Month Celebration, held in the nation’s capital. The ceremony is available on the HHS YouTube channel: Part I and Part II (Dr. Mallon’s recognition is in Part II, from minute 18:10).
The Adoption Excellence Award has been given every year since 1997, by the HHS Administration for Children & Families (ACF) Children’s Bureau (CB). It recognizes individuals who “share and support HHS’s priority for permanency for children in public foster care” through their leadership, innovation, and dedication to the successful adoption of children from foster care.
Dr. Mallon is an internationally recognized expert on LGBTQ youth and family issues, particularly as they relate to child welfare, adoption, and permanency planning. Since joining the Hunter College (now Silberman) School of Social Work faculty in 1993, he has championed a commitment to permanency and opportunity for the most vulnerable children and families. In 1997, he established the National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections, based at the School of Social Work, which remains under his leadership as the National Center for Child Welfare Excellence (NCCWE). His teaching and research have significantly shaped the School’s acclaimed child welfare practice specialization, and its overall strength in educating for work with children and families.
Dr. Mallon’s scholarship, teaching, advocacy, and training have also influenced major policy developments across the United States and globally, concerning LGBTQ children, youth, and families within the child welfare system.
The entire Silberman School of Social Work community commends Dr. Mallon for this much-deserved recognition of his extraordinary career serving children, youth, and families.