Philly's new DHS commissioner says she's excited about tough job ahead

Cynthia Figueroa took the lectern Wednesday as the new head of the Philadelphia Department of Human Services - an agency under sanctions, overwhelmed with an increase in children, and struggling with depleted employee morale - and let out a loud, "Woo-hoo!"

"I'm excited. I'm so excited!" Figueroa, 43, said to energetic applause from the crowd gathered in the Mayor's Reception Room. "I know it's a huge challenge, but I don't care. I'm excited. There's a lot of work for us to do, and our interests of children have to be first and not the politics of the work."

Mayor Kenney had conducted a national search to find a new head of the agency, which had its license downgraded in May for failure to follow state child welfare laws. The department is also in the throes of a continued transition to a decentralized system in which private "community umbrella providers" handle case management work.

Meanwhile, the size of DHS's caseload has swelled to 6,100 children in foster or kinship care, an increase of about 1,500 kids since 2014, and caseworkers complain of the dangers of juggling too many families.

Kenney said that Figueroa, a former deputy commissioner of DHS, is up to the huge task and that he was happy to come home to find her. The mayor called DHS "no less important than the Fire Department" as a public safety agency.

"This is about safety of our children and the maintenance of their presence in their neighborhoods, and part of this issue is not just DHS, it's us," he said. "We have to improve our quality of our neighborhoods. . . . We've fallen down as a nation in so many different areas of supplying resources necessary to be successful."

Figueroa will start the job, which pays $180,000 a year, on Sept. 6.

Jessica Shapiro, who took over as acting commissioner when Kenney took office, will stay on as chief of staff.

Figueroa's resumé includes work with children and families inside of government and in the private sector, a balance some community umbrella agency representatives said makes her a good pick for the job.

"We've all known her for a long, long time, we respect her and without saying anything disparaging to the DHS folks, I think it will be really helpful to have somebody from outside that system to be able to look more objectively at some of the challenges," said Mike Vogel, CEO of Turning Points for Children. "I mean, it's a hard job. I don't envy her, but I couldn't have picked a better person."

As deputy commissioner from 2008 to 2011, Figueroa oversaw $77 million in contracted services delivered by more than 225 private nonprofit organizations. Since 2011, she has been president and CEO of Congreso de Latinos Unidos, which has a $25 million budget for social, economic, education and health-service programming.

Figueroa also worked as executive director of Women Against Abuse for six years, where she helped double the number of shelter beds available to victims of domestic violence in the city.

Born in Puerto Rico and reared in Miami, Figueroa moved to Philadelphia 18 years ago and lives in Mount Airy with her husband and two young children.

jterruso@phillynews.com

215-854-5506

@juliaterruso