Each year UCOWF presents the Dorothy Forney Memorial Award at the annual training conference. The Dorothy Forney Memorial Award is the highest honor conferred on an individual or organization by UCOWF. 

Dorothy Forney was one of the founders of UCOWF and served as Executive Director until her death in 1983. She was a nationally recognized authority on entitlement programs and served on President Reagan’s transitional task force in the former U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Mrs. Forney was totally dedicated to UCOWF and its mission.

In her memory, the Dorothy Forney Memorial Award is given annually in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of fraud control. It is given to individuals or organizations whose actions have had a significant impact on the prevention, detection, prosecution or elimination of fraud and abuse in benefit programs.

Nominations for an individual or organization for the Dorothy Forney Memorial Award are reviewed annually by the UCOWF Awards Committee and the UCOWF Board of Directors approves the nominee at its Mid-Year Board Meeting.  All nominations are confidential but the nominee selected by the UCOWF Awards Committee is notified of his or her selection.