STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

Staff

Naomi Torfin, Executive Director, Children Come First

Andre Chambers, LMSW, City Year

Purpose:

Strategic Development Council is a leadership collaborative of national, regional, and local child welfare stake- holders. Council members develop and implement innovative practices in child welfare, utilizing evidenced-based practices that are researched and proven to work. All efforts are cross-system integrated, are able to be replicated throughout the state, and are sustainable long-term. The Council develops and pilots innovative programs while preparing for statewide implementation. All programs are cost saving or cost neutral, must be sustainable from state and federal funding, and follow a reinvestment guideline that builds on best practices for children and families.

Children Come First leads and facilitates the on-going collaboration of high-impact leadership and the development of two working pilot project for statewide replication that serve as alternatives to placement of children in the state’s foster care system.

Council Members:

Rhett Mabry, The Duke Endowment

Lillian Koller, Director, SC Department of Social Services

Isabel Blanco, Deputy Director, SC Department of Social Services

Darrin Goss, Greenville United Way

Michelle Dhunjishah, Executive Director, Foster Care Review Board

Reid Lehman, President & CEO, Miracle Hill Ministries

Gwynne Goodlett, Children’s Law Center

Paula Fendley, CEO, Association of Children’s Homes and Family Services

Bob Toomey, Director, DAODAS

Frankie Long, Program Director, DAODAS

Adam Brickner, CEO, The Pheonix Center

George Milner, Chairman, Children Come First

Sue Williams, Executive Director, The Children’s Trust

Keith Frazier, County Director, Greenville Department of Social Services

Tim Ervolina, President, United Way Association

Barbara Kelley Duncan, CEO, Carolina Youth Development Center