AUSTIN, Texas—Dr. Darlene Grant, associate professor of social work at The University of Texas of Austin, is among those who will be honored Oct. 21 by the Mental Health Association in Texas for her work with Austin’s Girl Scouts Beyond Bars Troop 1500.
The Girl Scout group is unique because the mothers of the members are incarcerated. Grant helped found the local chapter in 1998.
The Mental Health Association in Texas is honoring the program and its collaborators with the 2005 Ring of Honor Award given annually to individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions in the field of mental health. The ceremony will be held at the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center.
“With the primary goal of maintaining mother-daughter relationships and preventing future incarceration of the girls themselves, Dr. Darlene Grant and her colleagues are improving the mental health of both the mothers and the daughters with their program,” said Traci Patterson of the association.
Also being honored are Etta Moore and Julia Cuba of the Girl Scouts Lone Star Council, the YWCA of Greater Austin, the Crime Prevention Institute and Ellen Spiro of The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Communication. Spiro collaborated with producer Karen Bernstein on a documentary of Troop 1500. The film will be shown at the awards ceremony.
For more information contact: Nancy Neff, School of Social Work, 512-471-6504.
