Policy and Practice February 2019

our do’ers profile

In Our Do’ers Profile, we highlight some of the hardworking and talented individuals in health and human services. This issue features Nannette Bowler, Director of the Fairfax County (VA) Department of Family Services.

Name: Nannette M. Bowler, JD Title: Director, Fairfax County (VA) Department of Family Services Years of Service: 30 years in the public sector Rewards of the Job: As I embarked on my career, I could never have anticipated the opportunities and the trajectory of my path. My greatest joy in the opportunities I have expe- rienced in my various career roles has been to work with unbelievable, committed, and dedicated people to the work, and to play a small role in impacting the lives of others. Often the work can be emotionally draining, but as I have been asked often, “How do you continue doing this work?”, I have said that it just takes one person to make a difference. There are many fond memories of the people I have met and helped, and not only the role I played in their life, but how they, in turn, impacted my life. Accomplishments Most Proud Of: n Mom of five adult children, and while I cannot take direct credit, seven grandchildren n Completing my law degree n Co-Founder, Executive Director of— the first of its kind in Michigan—a nonprofit organization called the Children’s Law Center, a social worker/lawyer model representing pro bono at-risk children, youth, and families. Among the cases,

relevant and innovative workforce development and resources and state-of-the-art technology to meet the demands to perform the work n Taking a fresh look at how we use data in our decision-making. While there are volumes of data, there is a need to refine and ensure data integrity, test assumptions, using data to determine root causes of issues facing human services, and translating the data into meaningful transformation of services. Little Known Facts About Me: n Had three children while attending law school, including a set of twins; n Zipped lined across the Victoria Falls River and jumped 236 feet off the Victoria Falls Bridge n Completed 43.5-mile Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in two days n I have traveled four out of the seven world continents and plan to complete all seven—Australia, South America, and Antarctica remain. Outside Interests: n Grandchildren n Sports—especially college football and basketball n Serving the community through church-affiliated initiatives and projects n Travel—in addition to having traveled to 50 out of 52 states, I have enjoyed international travel, especially the African countries of Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Kenya.

represented an 11-year old girl in a nationally recognized custody case filed on her behalf. The case became a BBC documentary n As Executive Director/Legal Counsel for Michigan Lieutenant Governor Connie Binsfeld’s Commission on Children, ushered 21 bills unani- mously through the Michigan House and Senate, revamping the child welfare system, court processes, and attorney/guardian ad litem represen- tation of children n Developed and implemented the “Chance at Childhood Program” at Michigan State University that trains master-level social workers and law students together in children and family advocacy. Future Challenges for the Delivery of Public Human Services: n While outputs are important, moving human services beyond a transactional service delivery model that focuses on administration of transactions of individual programs such as eligibility determination, timeliness, and accuracy to a trans- formational model—a model that goes beyond eligibility, to tailoring services to the unique needs of an individual or family, ensuring that the right services are delivered at the right time with an integrative service delivery approach n As the workforce is the foundation of all we do in human services, assuring that the workforce is not only trained, but provided with