The USC School of Social Work's Field Education department bestowed its Agency of the Year Award at its annual luncheon on May 7 to Pasadena-based Pacific Clinics. Linda Waters, an associate of the School of Social Work for the past 16 years, was also honored with the Jules Levine Memorial Award.

The Agency of the Year Award is presented by the Field Education department to a social work agency for its outstanding work with the School of Social Work and its students. This year's recipient, Pacific Clinics, has worked with USC social work students for more than 25 years. The private, non-profit behavioral healthcare agency offers students a variety of places and populations to serve, with clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. In addition to offering stipends to help support students earning their MSW degrees, Pacific Clinics also has employed many USC social work graduates. The agency is a leader in community involvement, treating at-risk adolescents and seriously disturbed children and their families, while also working with community law enforcement, and self-help and parent groups.

"[Pacific Clinics] have truly been visionaries in the development of community partnerships and services," said Mary Gress, assistant dean for field education. "We are honored to be a partner with them."

The School of Social Work and Pacific Clinics will collaborate next year on the implementation of a specialized evidence-based practice model focused on recovery with mentally ill adults and at-risk adolescents. Once the practice model has been established, the program will be expanded to other practice sites as a part of the transformation of mental health services in Los Angeles. "This is one of the few such field translational research projects being done in the country, and we are excited that Pacific Clinics has joined with us in this important project," Gress said.

The other award presented at the luncheon, the Jules Levine Memorial Award, was given to Waters for her excellence in field instruction. Waters worked with the School of Social Work as a consultant on the establishment of the Inter-University Consortium program, an alliance among the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the four social work schools in Los Angeles County. In this role, she worked with students placed in DCFS internships in best practice models with child welfare clients. Waters then went on to work at Five Acres, a child and family services agency, where she field-instructs students from the School of Social Work every year.

"She has demonstrated the ability to work creatively and effectively with a wide variety of students, always teaching them not only wonderful practice skills, but modeling for them the very best in values and ethics of the social work profession," Gress said.

Also honored at the annual field instructors' luncheon at the USC School of Social Work's Orange County Center was the San Diego County Office of Education, which received the Orange County Agency of the Year Award. The Office of Education was honored for its ongoing commitment to social work education and high-quality field placements for the School of Social Work's Orange County and San Diego students.