2024 Sarah Duncan Champion for Children and Families Award Winner Announced
Congratulations to Sacramento County's Laveenya Young!
Presented each spring by the Northern Academy at UC Davis Human Services, the Sarah Duncan Champion for Children and Families Award honors one of Northern California’s outstanding social workers and seeks to highlight additional child welfare line social workers who reflect Duncan’s passion, skill and tireless commitment to working to improve outcomes for children and families. This is the third year the award has been presented.
This year’s nominees were:
Virma Castillo, Glenn County
Nidia Espinoza, Yuba County
Candice Freeman, Sutter County
Josephine (Jo) Pourian, Humboldt County
Renee Prisser, Sacramento County
Heather Knight, Butte County
Aubrey Love, Tuolumne County
Melissa Morin, Mendocino County
Dori Mueller, Modoc County
Kristin Sauer, Humboldt County
Joseph Thompson, Sacramento County
April Williams, Yuba County
Laveenya Young, Sacramento County
We would like to thank everyone who took the time to nominate one of their valuable colleagues for this very special award. It's so encouraging to read so many stories about child welfare professionals going above and beyond to improve outcomes for the children and families they serve.
And the winner is…
Laveenya Young, Sacramento Department of Child, Family and Adult Services!
Laveenya has established herself as a leader among her peers and is a constant support in her unit. She is renowned among her community partners, shareholders and service provider as a reliable worker who is dedicated to the practice of social work.
“Laveenya has worked in some of the most challenging cases under some of the most challenging circumstances and has never given up,” her nominating colleague shared.
Laveenya is particularly skilled at creating impactful and long-lasting connections with both the parents and the youths she works with. Her nominating colleague highlighted a particularly tough case in which Laveenya worked with a youth with some developmental and emotional challenges. The youth would often leave his placement, putting him at substantial risk, but Laveenya would personally go out into the community and search for him.
“Laveenya worked tirelessly with this youth in hopes of securing the support he needed. She was always honest and straightforward with him, which established a wonderful bond between the two,” her colleague added.
Please join us in congratulating Laveenya Young on being the winner of the 3rd annual Sarah Duncan Champion for Children and Families Award, and in thanking her for her outstanding service to Sacramento County and the field.
About the Sarah Duncan Champion for Children and Families Award
Named in honor of one of California’s outstanding social workers, the Sarah Duncan Award recognizes one Northern California child welfare line social worker who reflects Duncan’s passion, skill and tireless commitment to working to improve outcomes for children and families. It is awarded by the Northern Academy at UC Davis Human Services each year. Nominations are accepted year-round. Nominees are also highlighted via the UC Davis Human Services website, and on its Facebook and LinkedIn networks.
Nominations Accepted Year-Round
We have begun accepting submissions for next year’s award.
More on this Year’s Nominees, and Past Winners
To learn more about everyone who was nominated for this year’s award as well as nominees/winners from previous years, please visit our dedicated website.
We’ll also be sharing more over the coming weeks via the UC Davis Human Services Facebook and LinkedIn pages, so be sure to “like” and “follow” us there!