Harrisburg, PA – The Pa Family Support Alliance, the state’s leader in child abuse prevention, has awarded Jeanine Rasky with the Blue-Ribbon Champion for Safe Kids Award. This award is given to five Pennsylvanians who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to support and protect Pennsylvania’s children.

Rasky is newly retired but worked as the System Integration Director for the Allegheny County Department of Human Services. In that role, Rasky helped develop and sustain Allegheny County’s unique Youth Support Partner Unit that focuses on hiring young adults who have personal lived experiences with the child welfare system. Rasky provided training and coaching for youth between the ages of 14-24 years old. She has long been known as a champion who advocated for youth and families and worked hard to improve collaboration and communication among multi-systems and departments that provide child welfare services.

“Jeanine dedicated her professional career to advocating for children who don’t always have a voice,” said Angela Liddle, President and CEO of the Pa Family Support Alliance. “For more than 20 years she helped fight child abuse and worked with youth and families who often found themselves in vulnerable positions. There is not enough gratitude in the world to thank Jeanine for the countless children and teenagers she has helped.”  

In honor of this accomplishment, the Pa Family Support Alliance is debuting a video on its Facebook page today which will feature Rasky receiving the award. The video can be found here. Normally, the Pa Family Support Alliance hosts a ceremony in the Capitol rotunda in Harrisburg to honor its Blue-Ribbon Champion recipients. But, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the organization is sponsoring a virtual month-long awareness campaign to honor the Blue-Ribbon Champions and generate awareness about ways we can all work together to prevent and report child abuse.

As part of the month-long awareness campaign, the Pa Family Support Alliance will debut video messages and photos featuring the Department of Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller and Deputy Secretary Jonathan Rubin, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, Secretary of Education Noe Ortega, Second Lady Gisele Fetterman, State Senators Judy Ward and Maria Collett as well as State Representatives Sheryl Delozier and Pamela DeLissio. In Secretary Miller’s video, she announced the Blue-Ribbon Champions and thanked Rasky for her dedication in helping to advocate for and protect Pennsylvania’s children. That video can be found on our website.

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About Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance

Pa Family Support Alliance prevents child abuse and protects children from harm by helping parents learn positive parenting techniques, educating professionals and volunteers who work with children to recognize and report child abuse, and helping community members learn how they can play a positive role in keeping children safe. To learn more about our programs, schedule a training, or donate, please visit pa-fsa.org, or call 800-448-4906.