Call for Applicants

The Behavioral Institute for Children and Adolescents is pleased to announce the call for applicants for the Institute’s biennial Tara Reilly Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship is offered to encourage and assist an individual pursuing a career serving troubled youth.  The applicant must have junior/senior or graduate student standing and must be enrolled in an accredited program for the 2008-09 school year in one of the following areas: a) special education; b) juvenile justice; c) mental health; or d) a related field with the intent to work with children and youth with behavioral challenges.  The intent of the scholarship program is to encourage and assist persons choosing a career in direct service rather than administration or higher education. 

Completed applications must be received by July 15, 2008. 

The scholarship recipient will be announced by September 15, 2008. 

The 2008 award will be presented to the recipient at the International Child and Adolescent Conference to be held on November 6-8, 2008 in Minneapolis, MN.  The recipient will receive an expense-paid trip to the conference (not to exceed $1,000), and an award of not less than $500.00 or more than $2000.00, along with an opportunity to be a presenter at the conference.

2.       The applicant must submit three letters of support. All individuals writing letters of support should have knowledge of the candidate’s skills or potential success with troubled children and youth.  Letters may be written by instructors, professors, advisors, professional supervisors, and professional colleagues. Letters of support must include name, address, phone number and relationship to the applicant.

3.       The applicant must write a personal statement, no more than 500 words, describing his/her interest and motivation in working with troubled children and youth. This should include career goals and how this scholarship will help the applicant in achieving these goals.

4. The applicant must submit an original paper that may be a) a research project; b) a critical analysis of a current issue in the literature; or c) a thorough description of an intervention/program that the applicant has used successfully.  It must address research-based practices and should be no less than 10 pages and no more than 20 pages, including references. The paper must be written in English using American Psychological Association 5th ed. style. The following links may be helpful for following APA style: www.docstyles.com/apacrib.htm and http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

By submitting an application, applicants are indicating agreement with the following special conditions for the winner:

1.       The scholarship recipient will attend the International Child & Adolescent Conference XIV in Minneapolis, MN, November 6-8, 2008 to receive their award.

2.       As a follow-up, the scholarship recipient will submit a one-page summary describing how the scholarship was used and how its use may impact their future work with children and adolescents with challenging behaviors (due October 1, 2009).

3.       The scholarship recipient will be required to provide his or her social security number.

All materials must be submitted in English and received by July 15, 2008. Applicants must complete the online application form. The personal statement and paper may be submitted via e-mail to Melissa Knoll as a word or pdf document. The letters of recommendations can be submitted directly by the author via e-mail to Melissa Knoll or fax (651-483-3879).