WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Black Administrators in Child Welfare, Inc. (BACW) presented William Bell, Executive Vice President Child and Family Services for Casey Family Programs, with the 2005 Valeria Bullard Black Administrator of the Year Award during a luncheon ceremony at the BACW National Conference held at the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. The award is presented to an outstanding individual who has made substantial contributions to improving the lives of children in the child welfare system.
“We continue to need leaders in the field of child welfare who demonstrate the kind of dedication and commitment to work on behalf of our children that has been fully evidenced by William Bell. Over the years, the Black Administrators in Child Welfare, Inc. have followed Mr. Bell’s career and found him to be a caring and competent public administrator. Mr. Bell is given this award in recognition of the nearly 30 years that he has spent engineering service systems, advocating on behalf of children and families and for his exemplary leadership in child welfare,” stated Julia Danzy, BACW President of the Board of Directors.
Bell currently provides strategic direction to Casey Family Program’s nine field offices in Arizona, California, Idaho, Texas, and Washington. Under Bell’s leadership, the field office staff work directly with young people from the public child-welfare system to settle them in safe and stable families through foster care, kinship care, family reunification, guardianship, and adoption. Prior to joining Casey, Bell served 2 1/2 years as commissioner of the New York City Administration for Children’s Services. There he managed child welfare services – including Child Protection, Foster Care, Child Abuse Prevention, Day Care, and Head Start – with a staff of more than 7,000 and a budget of about $2.4 billion.
“It is a great honor to be recognized by my colleagues at BACW. For 35 years BACW has led the charge of ensuring that all of our children are well and encouraging us to look at critical issues that are affecting the children in our country, especially those in foster care. We have a national responsibility to improve the lives of children in the child welfare system and I look forward to working with the BACW to advance the needs of our children,” said Bell.
About the Valeria Bullard Black Administrator of the Year Award
The award is named after Valeria Bullard, founding member of the Black Administrators in Child Welfare. Ms. Bullard became the first president of the organization in 1975 when the entity was incorporated. As president, she served as the sustaining force that held the organization in good standing through her leadership skills and commitment to children. She also served as a mentor and a visible role model for other African American child welfare administrators and younger members aspiring to be good administrators. Recipients of the award may include program administrators from social work agencies, hospitals, schools of social work, or schools in the public or private sector.