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Jacqueline Richardson-Melecio receives Eileen Blackey Doctoral Fellowship


NASW Foundation awards Fellowship to University at Albany student

Washington, D.C.— The National Association of Social Workers Foundation (NASWF) has announced that Jacqueline Richardson-Melecio has received the 2013 Eileen Blackey Doctoral Fellowship. The Blackey Fellowship provides partial support to social work doctoral candidates who are engaged in dissertation research in welfare policy and practice. The fellowship program was established in 1987 as a tribute to Eileen Blackey, who was the Dean of the University of California-Los Angeles School of Social Welfare and a pioneer in the planning and use of staff development programs in public welfare agencies and in the U.S. Veterans Administration.

Jacqueline Richardson-Melecio is a Ph.D. candidate at the School of Social Welfare, University at Albany. She is a licensed masters level social worker who has over 15 years of experience in administration and service delivery in the provision of human services within minority communities and communities at large, as well as statewide mental health advocacy initiatives. She is researching the delivery of culturally competent mental health and human services to the Latino population.

Eileen Blackey's methods enabled professionals to identify and to address the social needs of society from the unique social work perspective.  Blackey, who died in 1979, was also instrumental in establishing schools of social work at the University of Hawaii and the University of Puerto Rico.

For more information about the NASW Foundation or educational scholarships and fellowships, please visit www.naswfoundation.org or e-mail naswfoundation@naswdc.org.

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The National Association of Social Workers Foundation (NASWF) is a charitable organization created to enhance the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through the advancement of social work practice.

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), in Washington, DC, is the largest membership organization of professional social workers with nearly 140,000 members. It promotes, develops, and protects the practice of social work and social workers. NASW also seeks to enhance the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through its advocacy.

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