Nicholas Long, Ph.D. Award for Leadership and Professional Development in the Field of Home Visiting
In recognition of leading individuals and advancing professional development while also creating solutions to issues facing Arkansas families.
Nicholas Long, Ph.D. Award for Leadership in and Professional Development in the Home Visiting Field
What is the Nicholas Long Leadership Award?
The Annual Nicholas Long Ph.D. Award for Leadership and Professional Development in the Home Visiting Field recognizes an individual advancing professional development while also creating solutions to issues facing Arkansas families.
Who is eligible to win?
We welcome nominations of individuals in a supervisory and/or training role submitted by the model leads from the following models in Arkansas: HIPPY, SafeCare Arkansas, Healthy Families America, Nurse-Family Partnership, Early Head Start Home Visiting, Head Start Home Visiting, Parents as Teachers, Family Connects Union County, and Following Baby Back Home. The award selection committee designated the model leads to nominate leaders as the model leads are well-acquainted with the nominee and can describe their alignment with the award criteria. These nominators are familiar with the nominee’s model requirements and can describe how their approach is unique from their colleagues as well as describe how they or their peers have been affected by the nominee’s work.
What happens when someone wins?
The award recipient will receive a certificate, a small prize, and an acknowledgment at the AHVN Annual Conference.
For additional information contact Jodie Dailey at [email protected]
2023 Winner: Marguerite Norman Flannigan
Marguerite provides leadership to one of the biggest home visiting programs in the state of Arkansas. She currently supervises three Home Visiting models: HIPPY, PAT and the newly added SafeCare. Marguerite is able to provide expertise to all 3 models without diminishing model fidelity and most importantly she advocates for the families in her community. Every year with the help of her staff, ARESC partners with a national health organization to provide an annual health clinic for families in the community. The health clinic helps provide resources, prevent diseases by advocating for immunizations, and reduce health disparities. Marguerite also partners with additional nonprofit organizations to help meet the needs of families in her community. Marguerite is instrumental in linking families with resources and helps families build a learning library for their children. Marguerite truly loves her community and lives by her favorite quote: "When you learn, teach. When you get, give" Maya Angelou.
Marguerite makes the HIPPY team better because she continues to advocate for home visiting! She has a thirst for knowledge, and wants to make sure her program maintains model accreditation and funding by ensuring all non-negotiables are met. Marguerite is knowledgeable, stays aware of of changes, and is able to communicate those changes to her staff. She also ensures that her staff has proper training by providing intensive professional development throughout the year. Marguerite comes up with unique ways/ competitions to motivates her staff , provides moral building activities and lets them know they are appreciated.
Marguerite leaves a positive impression on everyone she meets and she does not meet a stranger. Marguerite is educated having received a bachelor of Arts with honors in business administrations/accounting with an emphasis in education from Southern Arkansas University. She also received a Masters of Arts in teaching with honors, in business education and special education, and a Masters of Arts in Education, in early childhood and curriculum instruction from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Marguerite loves her family, she is a wife and a mother and a proud member of the oldest African American Sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority incorporated where she currently serves as the graduate advisor at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Marguerite is natural born leader and takes early childhood development to heart. She joined Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) in 2008. Her leadership, dedication, and handwork has been on display which has led to her promotion to Home Visitor Coordinator for 2 additional programs PAT and Safecare. Marguerite stays busy working and advocating for her community however her work never diminishes.
More about Nicholas Long, Ph.D.
aka "Dr. Long"
Dr. Long earned his doctorate of psychology from the University of Georgia in 1985. He completed his internship at the Children’s Hospital National Medical Center in Washington D.C. and Fellowship at the Institute for Behavioral Research at the University of Georgia before joining the UAMS faculty in 1987 where he served as Chief of the UAMS Pediatric Psychology Section until 2022.
Dr. Long helped to grow the Pediatric Psychology Section at UAMS and increase access to services across the state. He leaves a legacy of leadership, education and research through his work on building state-wide parenting programs, international recognition for best practice parenting books for caregivers and providers, over 30 years of continuous grant funding and cultivating a culture of mentorship across the UAMS Department of Pediatrics (DOP).
Throughout his career, Dr. Long has mentored psychology and medical trainees of all levels, earning deep respect for his commitment to provide evidence-based care to patients and their families. Dr. Long served as a long-standing member of the Promotion and Tenure committees for the DOP and UAMS. He has been an exceptional teacher and a valued mentor within the UAMS system and across the country. He has never been too busy to take significant time to answer questions thoughtfully and thoroughly. His dedication to teaching and mentorship has earned him multiple awards including the Chancellor’s Annual Teaching Award, Joan Cranmer Mentor of the Year Award and Educator Emeritus among others. Dr. Long has received many other well-earned honors over the course of his long and distinguished career, including the Leonard Tow Humanism award, Dean’s Educational Excellence Awards, and APA Distinguished Psychologist of the Year.
Dr. Long maintained successful research programs and is internationally known for his instrumental work in the development of community-based parent education programs. These programs helped many caregivers of young children receive the care and support they need in their homes. He has authored 5 books, 15 book chapters, 65 peer-reviewed articles, 160 paper/poster presentations and given over 500 workshops/presentations at the local, regional, national, and international levels.
From the start of his career, Dr. Long has been recognized as an expert in parenting and parent education. He was instrumental in building the Centers for Effective Parenting in 2006 and the Arkansas Home Visiting Training Network that started in 2015 to increase easy access to resources for caregivers, offering parenting classes and building a state-wide training network to continue to provide home visiting services to women during pregnancy and to parents with young children up to kindergarten entry.
Dr. Long also partnered with key collaborators to establish and support state-wide programs in partnership with the Department of Health where he was the Chair of the Task Force to Improve Parent Education and Involvement. He has held committee appointments in groups to advocate for state-wide recognition of, and support for, parenting resources working with groups such as the Arkansas Association of Infant Mental Health, Natural Wonders Initiative, and Arkansas ACEs Workgroup. He also supported efforts on the national level holding positions on the National Parenting Instructors Association.
Dr. Long retired at the beginning of 2024 but is still around to share his enthusiasm and wisdom with all of us at the Arkansas Home Visiting Network.