Angelique Day, Wayne State assistant social work professor and director of the university's Transition to Independence Program for foster youth support, has been honored by two national organizations for her work to promote college access and graduation rates of foster care youth.

The Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice (Division 37) of the American Psychological Association last month announced it had selected Day to receive its Early Career Award for Outstanding Contributions to Research/Practice in the Field of Child Maltreatment. Established in 2002, this award is given annually to a researcher or practitioner who has made substantial contributions to the field within eight years of receiving a terminal degree and who has demonstrated the potential to continue such contributions.

The Child Welfare League of America has also recognized Day, awarding her in April with the CWLA National Blueprint Champion for Excellence award. The award, which was presented to Day at CLWA's national conference in Washington, D.C., is given to an individual with demonstrated commitment to the principles of the CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare with the goal that "all children will grow up safely, in loving families and supportive communities with everything they need to flourish-and with connections to their culture, ethnicity, race, and language." Day was selected for her role in assisting Michigan's high risk youth access and graduate from college.

Day received a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences from Western Michigan University in 2011, joining the Wayne State School of Social Work faculty the same year. In 2012, with funding from a three-year Michigan Department of Human Services grant, Day founded TIP to provide Wayne State students transitioning out of foster care with professional mentoring, legal representation, financial literacy, health care, and other basic needs. She is an advisor to state and federal child welfare initiatives, most recently the U.S. government's National Quality Improvement Center for Adoption/Guardianship Support and Preservation and the University of Washington-based Fostering Higher Education Project ((http://socialwork.wayne.edu/news.php?id=16531). She was also keynote speaker at Louisiana State University's Family Impact Seminar in May (http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07eapnrctc33c6ffd7&llr=g5w45wcab).

A prolific researcher, Day and colleagues from Western Michigan University have just received a $75,000 grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation to determine whether Michigan's foster youth are receiving adequate preventive, dental and prenatal health care services (http://socialwork.wayne.edu/news.php?id=17136).