Hunter's Gary Mallon Receives 2017 Adoption Excellence Award

 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded the 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.

An adoptive parent himself, 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 supports and opportunities for 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 strength in advocacy and education for practitioners who with children and families across all specializations and methods.

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 Adoption Excellence Award has been given by HHS every year since 1997, through its 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 formally received the award at a ceremony on November 16 in Washington, D.C.

The Hunter College community commends Dr. Mallon for this highly deserved recognition of his extraordinary career serving children, youth, and families.