Genevieve Bennett Wiley, adult welfare consultant for the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, has been named the recipient of the third annual Anita S. Harbert Outstanding Achievement in Aging Award.

Named for Anita S. Harbert, Ph.D, the founder of the Summer Institute on Aging in 1977, the award is given to someone who organizers say appreciates the rural culture and strength of West Virginia’s older residents and the challenges they face.

“Genevieve has for the last 38 years been a dedicated worker and advocate for West Virginia’s most vulnerable citizens,” said Janet Turner, a community services manager at the DHHR. “As a worker, as a supervisor and now as a consultant she demonstrates the highest level of social work ethics.

“As noted by those long ago evaluations, Genevieve is ‘the hardest working individual in the area’ and ‘a dependable, motivated worker and a top PR worker for the agency.’ “

After graduating from Berea College, Wiley started her social work career at the then-Department of Welfare in 1972. She worked in various roles in the field until finding her niche in adult services 20 years ago.

In 1991, Wiley was promoted to social services supervisor and took on the duty of supervising adult services. She quickly became an expert in agency policy and the nuances of working with the aged and disabled. Wiley, her colleagues said, had a special passion for the field and ensured that services were provided to all with the same compassion that she had used for years while caring for a disabled older sister.

In the regional position of adult welfare consultant, she acts as a mentor, coach and role model for the adult services supervisors in two regions and for some of her peers in the DHHR central office.

The Division of Social Work and the Center on Aging at West Virginia University hosted the 33rd Summer Institute on Aging June 8-10 at the Lakeview Resort and Conference Center in Morgantown. The conference focuses on serving the aging population by providing education in the field of aging to social workers, nurses and counselors.

To learn more about the Division of Social Work’s Summer Institute on Aging, visit www.wvsioa.org.

For more information, contact Jacki Englehardt, coordinator of professional and community education at the Division of Social Work, at (304) 293-3280 or Jacki.Englehardt@mail.wvu.edu.

-WVU-

cs/6/14/11

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