Esther Gillies, clinical associate professor in the School of Social Work, has received the 2005 Yes2Kids Award for Outstanding Contribution to Child Abuse Prevention in the Antelope Valley from the Antelope Valley Child Abuse Prevention Council.

\"Esther has spent countless hours advocating on behalf of abused and neglected children and has become an important voice in raising awareness and counseling others on how to improve the safety and well-being of children and families at risk,\" said Dean Marilyn Flynn. \"We\'re very proud of her work and this special recognition of what she has achieved.\"

In a special awards ceremony at the council\'s annual meeting, Gillies received a commendation from the office of Michael Antonovich, Los Angeles County Supervisor, and certificates of recognition from Sen. George Runner and California State Assemblywoman Sharon Runner.

Gillies is a founding member of The California Society on the Abuse of Children, a multidisciplinary professional society promoting education of professionals working with child victims of abuse.

Prior to her USC appointment, she worked for more than 20 years in the Los Angeles County public child welfare system. As director of the Southern California Training Center at Children\'s Institute International, a California state-funded training program, Gillies developed and implemented hundreds of specialized training programs throughout Southern California for thousands of social workers, law enforcement, mental health and medical professionals working with child sexual abuse issues. She directed the Family CARE Center at Children\'s Institute International, a program providing outpatient mental health and social services to physically abused and neglected children and children suffering from sexual exploitation. She later served as executive director of the Children\'s Center of the Antelope Valley, a non-profit agency providing services to child victims of physical abuse and neglect and sexual abuse.

Gillies\' most recent publications are included in the 2000 Guidelines: Standards of Care for Child Crime Victims, a publication by the California Victims Compensation and Government Claims Board designed to provide mental health standards of care for child trauma victims.