NASW Texas Chapter, Austin Branch, Names Dr. David Springer Social Worker of the Year
The NASW Texas Chapter, Austin Branch, recognized Dr. David Springer as 2008 Social Worker of the Year at a recent reception. Springer is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and a University Distinguished Teaching Professor in the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin.
Springer was nominated for the award for his outstanding leadership and significant accomplishments exemplifying the values and mission of social work. As a professor, Springer teaches across both the undergraduate and graduate levels at UT-Austin, with courses ranging from Treatment of Children and Adolescents, Delinquency and Juvenile Justice, Leadership as a Catalyst for Community Change, and the popular Freshman Seminar, The Art of Being Human: Constructing Meaning out of Life, where students explore how individuals create a meaningful and happy existence.
Springer received a masters degree and a doctorate in social work from Florida State University. His interest in developing and implementing effective social work services for adolescents and their families continues to drive his research and scholarship. His areas of interest primarily include clinical assessment and intervention with adolescents and their families, and forensic social work with juvenile delinquents.
In response to a scandal that rocked the Texas Youth Commission last year, Springer was asked to chair a Blue Ribbon Task Force consisting of national and regional leaders, which was charged with making recommendations for reforming the juvenile justice system in Texas.
Through his work with the Blue Ribbon Panel, Springer has made an invaluable contribution to the ongoing reform of the Texas Juvenile Justice system in terms of policy, practice and program development. In one of his letters of recommendation for the Social Worker of the Year Award, a supporter wrote: Leadership is stepping up to help manage an unsettling situation. David Springer did that. Courage is taking on a challenge in the face of high risk and low certainty of success. David Springer has done that, too. Throughout the process, from beginning until now, this has, for Dr. Springer, always been about the children and adolescents in Texas who should be treated as if each of them was ones own flesh and blood. David Springer has distinguished himself as a social worker.
In September 2007, the Blue Ribbon Task Force issued its report entitled Transforming Juvenile Justice in Texas: A Framework for Action. The report was released, but not without considerable political pressure to change the scope and conclusion of the report. Springer and the panel did not waiver. Since then, the report has been endorsed by NASW Texas, the Austin Human Rights Commission, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, and The New York Times.