Crittenton Children’s Center therapist named outstanding Social Work Alumna

May 12, 2011 - PRLog -- KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Avis Smith, licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), LSCSW, at Crittenton Children’s Center, has been named a 2011 Outstanding Alumna by the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare. She is a 1984 graduate.

Smith joined Crittenton in 1986 as an inpatient therapist and became the manager of partial hospital and day school programs in 1991. From there she became the manager of Crittenton’s school-based prevention programs offering mental health services individually and in groups to school-aged children in various school districts including Raytown, Hickman Mills and Blue Springs.  

During this time, she served as a field instructor for the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare, attracting many social work interns to her programs where they learned to become promising professionals of the future.

Since 1992, Smith has served as an adjunct instructor for the University of Kansas teaching social work practice. Her combined experience in teaching, consultation and providing mental health services to young children was used to design an innovative program for Crittenton called Head Start-Trauma Smart for preschoolers ages 3 to 5 in three area Head Start sites. In demand as an engaging speaker, Smith frequently presents across the country on issues such as trauma, bullying and children’s art.

“Avis is an outstanding social work alumna because of her many years of dedicated service to children and their families who have been traumatized by poverty, violence, grief and loss,” said Janet Krueger, senior director of Crittenton’s Community Programs, in Smith’s nomination form. “Avis is an exceptional presenter of continuing education because of her strengths-based approach, capacity to engage and relate to her audience and her ability to make complex principles come alive in a simple way. Best of all is her obvious caring, committed dedication to those she serves.”

Crittenton Children’s Center is a 115-year-old Kansas City-based children’s service agency providing a wide array of behavioral and mental health services ranging from school and community-based care to intensive residential treatment and acute psychiatric hospitalization.

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Saint Luke's Health System based in Kansas City, Mo., consists of 11 area hospitals in northwest Missouri and eastern Kansas, and several primary and specialty care practices. We provide a range of inpatient, outpatient and home care services.