Jessica Niemi ’99 honored for her work with children’s mental health

The College of St. Scholastica is proud to celebrate the achievements of social work alumna Jessica Niemi ’99, LICSW, who was recently named the recipient of the Michele Fallon Award by the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health. The award recognizes mental health professionals who demonstrate exceptional leadership and make significant contributions to the field.

For Niemi, the honor is particularly meaningful as it is named after one of her long-time mentors. “It was extra special because I know Michele,” Niemi said in an interview with the Bemidji Pioneer. “We have worked together for years. She and I do some work around mental health consultation for the state of Minnesota. I was really touched by it. I’m still kind of surprised by it.”

Niemi, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from St. Scholastica, has spent over 25 years dedicated to the well-being of families. Currently, she leads the Bemidji office of Lake Country Associates, where she specializes in infant and early childhood mental health. “The parents are the change agent, not me,” she explained to the Bemidji Pioneer. “I’m just facilitating that dance. In fact, in infant mental health, you say that your client is the relationship, not actually the humans.”