Professor Robert Hickey receives the 2015 Surrey Place Centre June Callwood Award

Professor Robert Hickey received the 2015 Surrey Place Centre June Callwood Award for his contributions in the areas of research and education.
 
Prof. Hickey has been an integral part of the Ontario Developmental Services Human Resource Strategy since its inception in 2008 – the Strategy has been a collaborative provincial initiative between the Ministry of Community and Social Services and the Provincial Network of Developmental Services, which has had an immeasurable impact upon the delivery of developmental services across Ontario.
 
Prof. Hickey’s scholarly work has involved in-depth research, and evaluation related not only to the work of the Strategy but across the sector overall.  For example, he was instrumental in leading discussions with front-line professionals, management staff, and union representatives which went a long way to strengthening labour relations within the developmental services sector. His research-related work with the Strategy, and within the sector overall, has been published in a number of academic journals and has led to several international presentations.
 
In delivering the June Callwood Award, Steven Finlay, CEO of Surrey Place Centre, noted: “In short, without his passion for research and education and his willingness to apply those skills as a volunteer, the strategy would not have been able to have the profound impact it has had today, particularly with regard to the quality of service as delivered by Direct Support Professionals through the implementation of core competencies for all key positions.”