What is the Tom Moan Award?
The photo depicts Tom Moan in the mid-1970s, with (clockwise from top left) his mother Thelma Moan, daughter Tamara Moan, niece Erika Shields, son Rolf Moan, and nieces Meredith and Sylvana Shields.
Tom Moan (1940-1985) spent his entire professional career as a child welfare caseworker and administrator in Oregon. When Tom died of cancer in 1985, his friends, colleagues, and family members created the Tom Moan Memorial Award, and contributed money to support the award. Since 1986, the Award Committee has presented the annual Tom Moan Award to an Oregon Department of Human Services caseworker who has demonstrated excellence in, and an outstanding commitment to, the field of child welfare casework. For many years, the award was accompanied by a cash award, funded by interest generated by contributions to the Tom Moan Memorial Award Fund.
Since 2009, however, the Award Committee has used the fund to help send the award recipient to the annual National Conference of the Child Welfare League of America in Washington, D.C. In October of 2010, the Committee awarded the 2010 statewide award to Portland caseworker Octavia Merrill.