(Posted 2023 July, Updated 2025 March)

Meet Jennifer!

Position: Family Safety Supervisor, Foster Care and Adoption Program within the Children, Youth and Families Division.

I’ve been with the county for 5 years since October 2018. I began as a Social Services Specialist II in the Foster Care and Adoption Program, moved to Social Services Specialist III in September 2022, and most recently was promoted to Social Services Supervisor in February 2024. The position was renamed as Family Safety Supervisor in early 2025. 

Child welfare is a second career path for me. I have a BS in psychology and a MS in human behavior. I was a paralegal for 10 years and made the decision to pursue my original goal of working with families. I volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for 3 years and worked at an Independent Living Program for three years (started part-time as an overnight counselor and was eventually promoted to program manager) until I joined Fairfax County DFS in October 2018.

Supporting families is rewarding. I've worked in the Foster Care and Adoption Unit directly with the children that have been separated from their parents or previous guardians. Children enter foster care in a few different ways and for several years my job was to assess the family’s needs and what caused the children to be separated, develop a plan, address the family’s needs, and to achieve permanency for the children as well as work with the families towards that goal.

Reunification with the parents or previous guardians is always the primary goal, and I've worked with the parents or previous guardians to rectify the issues that brought the children into care and to ensure the children’s needs are met while in the custody of the Department of Family Services. If reunification is not possible, there is also a concurrent permanency goal which may be placement with relatives via a custody transfer, adoption, or permanent foster care if the child is 16 or older and other permanency options are not possible.  

It is challenging, but rewarding work, and we need other social workers to bring their expertise to our organization. There are children and families that need this support to overcome their challenges. 

My role now is leading our six-person Foster Parent Recruitment and Home Study Team. The team is focused on recruiting prospective foster families, providing them with trauma-informed pre-service training and working with prospective families through certification. One of the most challenging aspects of this work is identifying families whose goals align with the department on family reunification. 

As the supervisor for this team since February 2024, I have been excited to apply my skills to support the team and incoming foster parents. That could involve greeting the public at a community outreach event one day, monitoring home study applications another, or developing our strategic foster parent recruitment efforts.

Much of our critical work to recruit new foster parents hinges on cultivating positive relationships with experienced foster parents. To that end, we are currently focused on restarting our Foster Parent Ambassador program which is an outlet for passionate foster parents to use their testimonies to encourage prospective foster parents to start their journey.

Working for the Department of Family Services provides opportunities for professional and personal development and training each day. A Child Welfare Institute Onboarding Academy starting day one, Learning Circles, cross-discipline work, leadership training, and coaching are just a few examples of the ways staff is supported.

In addition, self-care is an important part of the culture, and I make time for myself outside of work. I relax by reading, singing, journaling, puzzling, shopping, and getting manicures/pedicures. I also really enjoy crafting and making things. I get very excited when my children have creative projects to do for school and always go over the top with helping them design and make the finished product. 

So, join DFS. Come work with us in CYF. You will be involved in life changing work that supports the overall safety and well-being of our community’s children and their families. We need you to make a difference.