A Cincinnati Catholic Charities leader has won a national award for her work helping children with behavioral and developmental challenges. Pam Mortensen, director of family development services at Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio, has won the 2026 Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan Award, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
The annual award goes to a Catholic Charities employee who demonstrates “exceptional commitment” to serving families and children in need, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. Catholic Charities recognized Mortensen for her 21 years of work in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, which covers 19 counties in southwest Ohio, and officials say she has both developed and expanded programs that support kids and families, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
One of those programs is the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation, which focuses on infants, toddlers and preschool children with behavioral challenges, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. The goal is to intervene early to prevent those children from being expelled from their daycares and preschools.
The program provides training, consultation, assessment and intervention help to the professionals caring for the children, so they can provide the specialized care the children need, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. So far this year, archdiocese officials say, the program has provided assistance to 2,200 children, parents, teachers and administrators.
“Pam and her team are helping kids overcome behavioral challenges and grow into bright and healthy learners,” Tony Stieritz, CEO of Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio, told The Cincinnati Enquirer.
The mental health consultation program has served Butler County families and childcare providers for 20 years and has been expanded under Mortensen’s leadership to Hamilton County, where it now serves 21 childcare providers, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.
The award puts a Cincinnati name on a national honor — and puts the spotlight on the early-childhood work behind it: keeping very young children in their classrooms, and giving the adults who care for them the training and support to help them thrive.
For families across the 19-county archdiocese, the work Mortensen leads is often the first help they meet when a young child is struggling in a classroom — help aimed at the child, the teacher and the parents together, long before a small problem becomes a reason a child loses a place in preschool altogether.
Photo: Jason Zhang, CC BY-SA