Carolynn Macallister honored by OSDH for child abuse prevention

May 13—The Oklahoma State Department of Health is honoring Carolynn Macallister of Stillwater for outstanding commitment, dedication and leadership in child abuse prevention.

Macallister received the Mary Ellen Wilson Award from OSDH, one of seven awards presented for child abuse prevention by the state agency.

Macallister was a founder and continues to serve on the Board of Directors for Resilient Payne County, an organization she championed as a coalition to raise awareness of how Adverse Childhood Experiences can damage the mental and emotional development and physical health of children.

ODH cited her work with Resilient Payne County, saying she led the statewide trauma movement and led Stillwater to be the first Oklahoma community to identify challenges relating to childhood trauma and to recruit a team of multi-disciplinary professionals and community leaders.

Resilient Payne county is also working to develop systems in the community to mitigate the potentially lifelong impact of ACES.

Years before founding Resilient Payne County, Macallister was instrumental in forming the Saville Center for Child Advocacy.

She is one of 30 applicants recently selected for the ACE Interface Master Trainer program through the Potts Family Foundation and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Healthy Kids Healthy Families Program.

As a master trainer Macallister will make presentations on ACES and resilience science across the state and will receive ongoing support through the network of Raising Resilient Oklahomans Self-Healing Communities.

Anyone interested in bringing a presentation to their community or organization should contact Linda Manaugh at lamanaugh@pottsfamilyfoundation.org.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way the awards are presented this year. Instead of holding an award ceremony at the Oklahoma State Capitol, the department hosted a series of smaller presentation ceremonies.

"Congratulations to this year's child abuse prevention award winners for their significant and outstanding work in preventing child maltreatment," State Commissioner of Health Dr. Lance Frye said. "Their efforts are helping improve the quality of life for Oklahoma's children most at risk for neglect and abuse and strengthening the health and well-being of Oklahoma's communities."

The full list of honorees is as follows:

* Mark Lawson — Outstanding Elected Official Award

* Emma Shandor — Outstanding Home Visitor Award

* Parent Promise — Outstanding Child Abuse Prevention Program (tie)

* Children First — Outstanding Child Abuse Prevention Program (tie)

* Carolynn Macallister — Mary Ellen Wilson Award

* Sally Eichling — Julie L. Bonner Nurse Award

* Barbara Bonner, PhD — Marion Jacewitz Award

Twitter: @mcharlesNP

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