THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 8, 1996 TAG: 9608080371
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 51 lines
An Ohio woman will lead a newly consolidated Department of Human Services in Chesapeake.
Doris Sloan ``Cookie'' Roberts, now a vice president at a nonprofit housing agency in Dayton, will take her new post Sept. 16.
``We're extremely pleased that she's able to come,'' said Clarence V. Cuffee, Chesapeake's interim city manager. ``She's highly respected in Dayton, Ohio - probably could stay there and work until she retires.
``She's taking a risk to come here, and I admire that. I think that's a trait of a good leader, and I think the community is extremely fortunate.''
Roberts could not be reached in Ohio Wednesday.
Cuffee said he picked her from a field of more than 200 applicants and seven finalists.
She has a bachelor's degree in social work from Hampton University and a master's degree in social work administration from Pittsburgh University.
She has experience with government agencies, including a stint as deputy director of social services for the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
Cuffee said he was looking for someone with an extensive background in social services and experience working with both public and private, or nonprofit, agencies. Roberts has worked at the Ohio agency as vice president of the housing division since 1988.
People who have worked in private agencies, Cuffee said, should be familiar with business concepts that will be important as Chesapeake begins dealing with welfare reform in 1998, he said.
``That's going to be pretty much a business-driven concept,'' he said.
Roberts will lead four major departments: Social Services; the Tidewater Detention Home, a center for troubled youth; the Community Corrections Program, which helps find alternatives to jail for some offenders; and the Comprehensive Services Act Program, which helps children with behavior problems and mental problems.
Previously, all were separate agencies, led by their own directors.
The directors of Social Services and the Tidewater Detention Home retired this summer. Cuffee saw chance to consolidate the agencies.
``The whole notion now on all human service programs is the notion of collaboration, putting all the services together, working with the same customer through all the different agencies,'' he said. ``I think it's a more efficient model.''
The City Council approved the consolidation of the departments in May, Cuffee said.
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES by CNB