The California Social Welfare Archives (CSWA) hosted its annual awards luncheon and Hall of Distinction induction ceremony on Nov. 1 at the USC Davidson Conference Center, honoring social work leaders across the state for their career accomplishments and commitment to the advancement of social welfare.

In a surprise opening, Rossier School of Education Dean Karen Symms Gallagher awarded Distinguished Professor Emerita and Hall of Distinction inductee Frances Lomas Feldman membership into Phi Kappa Phi for her years of distinguished service.

Feldman then presented the George D. Nickel Award for Outstanding Professional Services to School of Social Work Professor Jacquelyn McCroskey. The award is given annually in memory of CSWA's founder to recognize individuals who have made notable strides toward improving social welfare.

McCroskey, who holds the John Milner Professorship of Child Welfare, has an extensive record of service to the community. She serves as a commissioner of the First 5 L.A. Commission, which has allocated over $1 billion for programs serving young children and families since its inception in 1999. She was a founding member of the Children's Planning Council, one of the nation's most influential advocates for children's services reform. She also serves on the County's Child Care Policy Roundtable and the City of Los Angeles Commission on Children, Youth and Their Families. In 2003, she was named Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers.

Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers of America labor union with Cesar Chavez, received the George D. Nickel Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. Huerta, a community activist for 50 years, provided the keynote address, inspiring attendees with stories of her struggles on behalf of migrant farm workers and their impoverished families to receive fair wages and needed social service programs.

The CSWA also recognized nine inductees, including Feldman, into its California Social Work Hall of Distinction, which pays tribute to social work pioneers and other high-impact contributors to social welfare who support the profession's values and code of ethics.

The 2005 Hall of Distinction inductees include:
- Chauncey Alexander (1916 - 2005), the late executive director of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). During his leadership, a time which he regarded as his most important service as a social worker, NASW initiated and supported the licensing, standards, code of ethics and political action for professional social workers.
- Dana Bartlett (1860 - 1942), a reverend and founder of the Los Angeles-based Bethlehem Institute and an important leader in the Los Angeles reform movement of the early 1900s.
- Marsena Buck (1938 - 2000), whose social work career spanned nearly four decades, was director of the Stanislaus County Department of Social Services from 1985-1995. Her special contributions were in public services for children, families and the elderly.
- Frances Lomas Feldman (1912 - ), is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Social Work at the University of Southern California, where she taught social welfare history, policy, and administration for 35 years after 15 years in public and private social agencies as caseworker, administrator, researcher and consultant.
- Myldred Jones (1910 - ), founder of Southern California's "Hotline," which handles calls from people in crisis, and Casa Youth Shelter, which has served over 8,000 youth and 32,000 family members.
- Anita Mackey (1914 - ), worked for the Veteran-s Administration for 30 years in three cities: Chicago, as the first African-American supervisor in social service; Los Angeles as the first African-American supervisor; and Santa Barbara as administrator of the Social Work Service Office.
- Faustina Solis (1923 - ), a psychiatric social worker and public health professional, developed health programs for Latinos in San Diego County and brought ethnic content into the curriculum of medical students as a faculty member at the University of California, San Diego.
- Ernest White (1904 - 1986), whose work led to the creation of 11 accredited schools of social work in the California state university system.