Division 37 Awards

REQUEST FOR NOMINATIONS:

DIANE J. WILLIS EARLY CAREER AWARD

 The Diane J. Willis Early Career Award is established with the American Psychological Foundation and supports talented young psychologists, making contributions towards informing, advocating for, and improving the mental health and well-being of children and families particularly through policy and service.

Program Goals - The Diane J. Willis Early Career Award

- Advances public understanding of mental health and improve the well-being of children and families through advocacy, policy, and service

- Encourages promising early career psychologists to continue work in this area.

Funding Specifics

One $2,000 award

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must be:

- psychologists with an Ed.D., Psy.D., or Ph.D. from an accredited university

- no more than 7 years postdoctoral

Evaluation Criteria

- Nominations will be evaluated on conformance with stated program goals and qualifications stated above

- Magnitude of professional accomplishment in advancing public understanding of mental health and improves the well-being of children and families through policy and service.

Nomination Requirements

- Nomination letter outlining the nominee’s career contributions

- Current CV

- Two letters of support

Submission Process and Deadline

Submit a completed application online at http://forms.apa.org/apf/grants/ January 31, 2013.

Diane J. Willis Early Career Award

This award is named after Dr. Willis to honor her life-long advocacy on behalf of children and families. Dr. Willis’s work cuts across many areas including clinical child, pediatric, developmental and family psychology. Through her publications, clinical work and mentoring/teaching she has changed policy at the local, national and international level. She has advocated for children’s rights at the United Nations, developed programs on prevention and early intervention for Native American children living on reservations, and established services promoting the well-being of children with developmental disabilities, chronic illness, and those who have suffered from maltreatment.

This award is open to all Early Career Psychologists. It was established by Division 37 in APF. Many individuals, including Division 53 and 54, contributed funds to honor Dr. Willis and make the award in her name.

About the American Psychological Foundation (APF)

APF provides financial support for innovative research and programs that enhance the power of psychology to elevate the human condition and advance human potential both now and in generations to come.

Since 1953, APF has supported a broad range of scholarships and grants for students and early career psychologists as well as research and program grants that use psychology to improve people’s lives.

APF encourages nominations from individuals who represent diversity in race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, and sexual orientation.

Please be advised that APF does not provide feedback to grant applicants or award nominees on their proposals or nominations.

Please contact Parie Kadir, Program Officer, at pkadir@apa.org with questions.

Division 37 has established the following awards to recognize work of distinguished and upcoming professionals in the field:

Lifetime Advocacy Award:

Interdivisional Exemplary Service Award:

Nicholas Hobbs Award: This award was established in honor of Nicholas Hobbs in 1983. It is presented annually to a psychologist who exemplifies the ideals and devotion to child advocacy/policy characterized by Nicholas Hobbs. Past recipients of this award were:

Distinguished Contribution to Child Advocacy Award: This award was established in 1982, and is presented annually to a nonpsychologist who has made significant contributions to advocacy on behalf of children, youth, and families. The spirit of the award has been to recognize persons currently involved in advocacy efforts to encourage ongoing advocacy efforts. Past recipients of this award were:

Division members are invited to nominate people for the Hobbs and Child Advocacy awards each year. Nominations are due to the Past-President by December 1.

Student Awards

Division 37 Student Dissertation Award

Division 37 gives an award annually for a completed doctoral dissertation concerning issues of social policy, service delivery, welfare, and/or advocacy for children, youth, and families that best exemplifies the mission of the Division. The prize includes a cash award and a one-year free membership in the Division. The award recipient is notified the first week of July. The award will be announced at the APA convention and in the Division’s publication, The Advocate.

Deadline: May 15, 2012

Students should submit electronically their completed, approved dissertations, along with a copy/facsimile of the signed cover sheet and an abstract of no more than 1000 words summarizing the research and its relevance to Division 37's mission. 

Division 37 is committed to the application of psychological knowledge to advocacy, service delivery, and public policies affecting children, youth, and families.

Dissertations submitted for the award should reflect this goal, including an explicit discussion of how the dissertation research contributes to policy and advocacy on behalf of children and families.

The dissertation should have been completed within the last two years. 

Submissions should be sent to the Division Past-President, Michael C. Roberts, mroberts@ku.edu

Past recipients:

 2011 - Anna D. Johnson for Child Care Subsidies: Who Uses Them, and What Do They Buy Low-Income Families and Children? (Columbia University; Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Ph.D., Advisor)

2010 - Catherine DeCarlo Santiago for Family Coping as a Protective Factor for Poor Children

2010 - Honorable Mention: Erin Gabrielson for Cultural Responsiveness: Working with Interpreters when Providing Mental Health Services to LEP Clients; and Margaret Stevenson for Understanding Jurors' Discussions of a Defendant's History of Child Abuse and Alcohol Abuse in Capital Sentencing Trials

2009 - No award given

2008 - Timothy D. Nelson for Practitioner Perspectives on Evidence-Based Practice: Toward a Model for Designing, Evaluating, and Disseminating Treatments with Research support

2007 - Lily Alpert for Caseworker Family-Focus and Parent Engagement in Foster Care

2006 - Richard W. Puddy for The Role of Service Coordination in an Innovative School-Based Intensive Mental Health Program

2005 - Shadi Houshyar for Genetic and Environmental Predictors of Resiliency in Maltreated Children

2004 - M. Alexis Kennedy for Identifying Child Abuse: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis of History of Abuse and Westernization on Perceptions of Abuse among Asian-descent and European-descent Students

2002 - Jane G. Querido for Early Intervention for Child Conduct Problems in Head Start Families

Student Poster Award: These awards are for graduate students who have submitted exemplary posters to the APA convention. The student must be the first author of the paper.

2011 Winners:

Briana L. Anderson for Therapist Motivation for Gaining PCIT Training and Its Effects on Treatment Outcome (University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center; Sponsor: Beverly Funderbunk, Ph.D.)

Justin A. Lavner for Child and Parent Adjustment Over Time in Gay and Straight Families Adopting from Foster Care (University of California, Los Angeles; Sponsor: Jill Waterman, Ph.D.)

Diane Wach Miller for Identifying Precursors to Borderline Personality Disorder Among Maltreated Youth (Human Development/Family Life Development Center, Cornell University; Sponsor: John J. Eckenrode, Ph.D.)

2010 Winners:

Colin B. King for Comparing Child Abuse Referrals Received from Educators to Other Professionals

Jonathan I. Martinez for How Parents' Social Networks Influence Youth Mental Health Service Use

Sara L. Stromeyer for Inflation of Competencies and Academic Outcomes in Aggressive Children.

2009 Winners:

Stephanie T. Snow for Mothers' Attributions Predict Concurrent and Longitudinal Mother-Child Interaction Quality

Lisa A. De La Rue for An Alternative to Incarcerating Youth: Developing Programs that Decrease Recidivism and Strengthen Family Relationships

Please click here for information about other student activities of the Division.

Award Information:

If you would like more information about any of these awards, including procedures for nomination, please contact:

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