UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Child Maltreatment Solutions Network recently awarded scholarships to four students planning to enter the fields of child maltreatment and child advocacy.  

The de Lissovoy Intern Scholarship provides financial support to students pursuing a minor in child maltreatment and advocacy studies to complete an internship at Centre County Children's Advocacy Center, Centre County Child and Youth Services, or Dauphin County Children and Youth Services.   

Funded through an endowment in honor of Vladimir de Lissovoy, the scholarship allows students gain real-world, hands-on learning through direct social work with children and their families. 

This year’s scholarship recipients are Cassidy Monaghan, a second-year student majoring in elementary education and minoring in child maltreatment and advocacy studies and special education; and Priya Tang, a second-year student majoring in criminology and minoring in child maltreatment and advocacy studies.

Two students were also awarded the Reducing Disparities in Child Welfare Scholarship, which supports those with a demonstrated understanding of and commitment to addressing ethnic and racial disparities in child welfare-serving systems at any internship location.  

This year’s awardees are Keya Ahrestani, a fourth-year student majoring in psychology with minors in child maltreatment and advocacy studies, spanish, and health policy and administration; and Sofia Chickos, a third-year student majoring in criminology and minoring in Spanish and child maltreatment and advocacy studies. 

Students who would like to know more about the child maltreatment and advocacy studies minor and scholarship opportunities can visit the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network’s website. 

Part of the Social Science Research Institute, the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network, established in 2012, is designed to influence public policy that protects vulnerable children from abuse.