Susie Austin Legacy Award presented to Jan Lutz and the work of the Indiana Chapter
Jan Lutz has been a voice and advocate for children for over twenty years. She has also become the strongest supporter and ally of Indiana Child Advocacy Centers, their staff, and the kids they serve. At this year’s Superhero Celebration, we honored and celebrated Jan for her work and dedication to CACs with the Susie Austin Legacy Award. Jan was not the founder of the CAC movement in Indiana, but was among some of the earliest boosters. Indeed, she has been instrumental in the growth of CACs throughout the state as the inaugural and only Director of the Indiana Chapter of National Children’s Alliance for over twenty years. The Chapter provides valuable training, mentorship, and consulting to CACs. The Chapter, and by extension Jan, support 26 CACs in Indiana today. Susie’s Place has had the benefit of being the first new CAC to fully form under Jan’s leadership at the Chapter. She provided community-changing stewardship, community buy-in, and development to Susie’s Place. Even more significantly, an opportunity in late 2023 to amend Indiana law arose and, with the help of the Chapter Board, she engaged in what may be the most significant landmark achievement of the Chapter’s 25-year history: the …
