Child Welfare Advocate Honored for Achievement

Meredith L. Schalick, '95, received the 2005 Jepson Alumni Achievement Award, presented annually to a Jepson School graduate of the last decade whose achievements reflect the mission of the School.

"There is a clear pattern in her work," said Dean Kenneth Ruscio, as he presented the award April 30, 2005 during annual Reunion Weekend. "Meredith is a fierce advocate for the welfare of children in our society."

Schalick is the Director of Policy & Development for the New Jersey Child Abuse Research Education and Services (CARES) Institute at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine. She is responsible for the institute's strategic growth to help set statewide policy, provide training, conduct research, and develop evidence-based medical and mental health services to address child abuse and neglect. 

Prior to this position, Schalick served as Special Counsel for Child Welfare Policy at the New Jersey Department of Human Services where she helped settle a class action law suit against New Jersey’s child welfare system and develop the five-year strategic plan to overhaul the child welfare system.

She also served as Assistant Counsel to the Democratic Majority Office of the New Jersey General Assembly. She began her career as an Independence Foundation Public Interest Law Fellow and Staff Attorney at the Support Center for Child Advocates in Philadelphia.

After earning her B.A. at Richmond, she earned a M.A. in public policy (1997) at the Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy/Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, and J.D. (1998) from Rutgers University School of Law-Camden, where she is now an adjunct professor.

She volunteers as a lawyer for abused children, community educator with Planned Parenthood, and has worked on many political campaigns on the local, state and national level.

The recipient for the Jepson award is selected by a committee of Jepson faculty and staff, led by the Dean of the School.

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