Jeanne was awarded the silver Lifetime Achievement Award, which is given to recognise the dedication and achievements of an individual who has worked in the industry for over 20 years.
With a career in social work spanning four decades, Jeanne has headed up Coram’s leading adoption services for the last 34 years.
Coram’s Chief Dr Carol Homden, CBE, said Jeanne could not be more deserving of the accolade:
“We are delighted that Jeanne has been awarded the silver Lifetime Achievement Award.
“She has devoted her working life to children and to making Coram’s adoption services among the best in the country.
“Alongside her work at Coram, Jeanne has positively impacted on adoption at every level; working with Government, the research world, and the voluntary and public sector.
“She has followed the 275-year tradition set by our founder, Thomas Coram, who established us as the Foundling Hospital when no other such charity existed to take in children facing abandonment on London’s streets, and changed the lives of hundreds of children and families.”
Jeanne oversaw the formation of the country’s first partnership between a voluntary adoption service and a local authority, the celebrated Harrow-Coram partnership cited as a ‘blueprint’ by the Children’s Minister in 2011.
She has also championed Concurrent Planning, a special service offering more stability for looked-after vulnerable babies, which has been embraced by Government and rolled out to over a dozen local authorities.
Jeanne said: “It’s fantastic to have won the silver Lifetime Achievement Award. It’s wonderful to have won an award for a job that I’ve had so much enjoyment and pleasure from over the years. It’s a huge privilege to do what I do.”
Jeanne is an author on adoption and helps steer pioneering research into looked-after and adopted children’s welfare.
The Social Worker of the Year Awards were established in 2006 with the aim of recognising and celebrating the challenging work of qualified social workers and highlighting the good work they do.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is sponsored by the British Association of Social Work (BASW).
The awards ceremony took place on Friday 26 November at the Lancaster London Hotel.
Useful links
Find out more about our Concurrent Planning
Find out more about Adoption with Coram