Peter Delany Receives Ruth Knee/Milton Wittman Outstanding Achievement Award

NASW Foundation honors Delany for Behavioral Health Service and Research

WASHINGTON— The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Foundation is pleased to announce that Peter Delany, PhD, LCSW-C, has been awarded the Knee/Wittman Outstanding Achievement Award for his efforts to expand the use and application of behavioral data in the health care reform movement.

The Knee/Wittman Awards recognize individuals who are models of excellence and have made significant contributions in the field of health and mental health. The Knee/Wittman Award Program was established in 1990 to recognize those who represent the values, ethics and approaches exemplified by two dedicated social work pioneers, Ruth Knee and Milton Wittman.  The Outstanding Achievement Award is presented to an individual who has had a significant impact on national health or mental health public policy, professional standards or program models.

Rear Admiral (RADM) Delany, PhD, LCSW-C, currently serves as Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). As director, RADM Delany is responsible for providing executive direction and leadership to a staff of approximately 131 and an annual budget of $1.8 billion.  He also leads SAMHSA’s Strategic Initiative on Data, Outcomes, and Quality designed to promote a coordinated use of data to improve the quality and outcomes of behavioral health services. 

RADM Delany has served for almost 20 years in the Department of Health and Human Services as a Commissioned Officer in the United States Public Health Service.  He has extensive experience as a clinician, as well as in treatment and health services research, research development, and program and research systems management.  He has focused his research and clinical career on addressing the needs of underserved populations.

RADM Delany has served in a number of positions in the Department of Health and Human Services including serving as the deputy director of Epidemiology, Services and Prevention Research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a senior research scientist in the Office of Applied Studies at SAMHSA, and as the program director for Health Services Research in the Division of Treatment & Recovery Research at the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).  He rejoined the SAMHSA in 2008 as the director of the Office of Applied Studies which he reorganized into the new Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality in 2010.

“He is the consummate social worker in his values, his leadership work, and his impacts,” says Katherine Briar-Lawson, PhD, the Dean of School of Social Work at the University at Albany. “Few are as deserving as Peter; he has been an exemplar on all fronts of engaged scholarship.”

“Peter Delany is a rare individual who has risen to high rank, and yet remained grounded in the day-to-day realities of mental health in the military,” says Robert Arnold, director of the NASW Foundation. “The Social Work profession is fortunate to have such a dedicated person addressing the health and mental health needs of vulnerable populations through his research, program development and leadership efforts.”

It is with great honor that the NASW Foundation presents Rear Admiral Delany with the Knee/Wittman Outstanding Achievement Award.

 

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), in Washington, DC, is the largest membership organization of professional social workers with nearly 145,000 members. It promotes, develops, and protects the practice of social work and social workers. NASW also seeks to enhance the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through its advocacy.

The National Association of Social Workers Foundation (NASWF) is a charitable organization created to enhance the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through the advancement of social work practice.