Jill Waterman, co-developer of UCLA TIES for Families, received the Adoption Excellence Award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The award was presented at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., Nov. 16.
Waterman, adjunct professor of psychology at UCLA, was one of the initial developers of TIES for Adoption (now UCLA TIES for Families), which was founded in 1995. TIES stands for training, intervention, education and services and is an interdisciplinary program dedicated to improving the growth and development of foster/adoptive children from birth to age 21, and their families. She currently serves as director of infant mental health and supervises the program’s psychology externs and postdoctoral fellows. Her research focuses on how TIES clients fare once they leave the formal program and enter adolescence and young adulthood, as well as tracking infants who were exposed to health risks prior to birth and placed with foster parents.
The Adoption Excellence Awards recognize outstanding accomplishments in achieving permanency for America’s children in foster care. The awards honor leadership, innovation and commitment in the effort to rebuild the lives of children in foster care and those who are waiting for adoption.