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Minnesota
Esther Wattenberg |
Professor Esther Wattenberg is recognized in Minnesota and across the country for her continuing efforts to understand and influence the forces that place children at risk of maltreatment. Throughout her career, Professor Wattenberg has worked tirelessly on behalf of children: consulting with individual social workers, orchestrating forums and workshops, or advocating at the legislature. Over ten years ago, Professor Wattenberg became concerned about the lack of training for social workers to work with abused and neglected children and their families. She sought a unique combination of private and public funding to establish the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare in the University of Minnesota School of Social Work. The Center focus is to recruit social workers who will remain committed to working in the field of child welfare and particularly to recruit social workers of color. In the ten-year history of the Center, Professor Wattenberg raised over $22 million and has helped over 220 students learn to become social workers who are committed to working in the public child welfare sector. Social workers from the Somali and Hmong communities as well as African-American, Native American, and Hispanic workers have graduated from the School of Social Work and act as strong advocates for the prevention of child abuse and neglect. As an academic, Professor Wattenberg has pursued numerous research efforts to provide useful information to practitioners. In all of her research endeavors, she strives to identify the issue and generate information to illuminate it and then works passionately to make changes that will improve services and assist social workers in bettering the lives of children. Countless children in Minnesota continue to benefit from Professor Wattenberg's unwavering and tireless advocacy.