This award is given to individuals that have gone above and beyond the call of duty to support and protect children

Harrisburg, Pa.– Pa Family Support Alliance, the state’s leader in child abuse prevention, has awarded Deborah Willett with the Blue Ribbon Champion for Safe Kids Award. This award is given to four individuals that have gone above and beyond the call of duty to support and protect Pennsylvania’s children.

Willett is the Program Coordinator at Coatesville Center for Community Health. In the organization’s Grandfamily Connections program, she works to ensure children who have lost their parents and are placed with their grandparents or kinship families receive support services.

When parents are not able to care for their children due to substance abuse disorders, mental health concerns, and incarceration, they are often placed with grandparents or in kinship families. Willett supports these families through individual peer support, educating them about community resources, and helping them connect to others that have experienced similar challenges.

By working closely with grandparents and kinship families, she fosters environments that enable children to have support and stability. Separate from her career, Willett is a dedicated mother. She is a single mom that has supported 13 children through foster care and adoption over the years.

“Deborah was selected to receive this award out of a list of distinguished candidates because of her dedication to Pennsylvania’s children,” said Angela Liddle, President, and CEO of Pa Family Support Alliance. “She knows firsthand the unique challenges that families face when they need to unexpectedly care for children. There is not enough praise to bestow upon her and all of us should strive to emulate Deborah’s steadfast commitment to children and our communities.”

In honor of this accomplishment, the Pa Family Support Alliance is debuting a video on its Facebook page today which features Willett accepting the award. Her video can be found here.

As part of the month-long awareness campaign, Pa Family Support Alliance is debuting video messages featuring the Department of Human Services Acting Secretary Meg Snead, State Senators Judy Ward and Maria Collett, as well as State Representatives Sheryl Delozier and Pamela DeLissio. In Secretary Snead’s video, she announced the Blue Ribbon Champion recipients and thanked Willett for her dedication to Pennsylvania’s children.

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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.