Who We Are

CSF is composed of nationally-recognized subject matter experts in human services programs, especially those related to children and families. Our staff and consultants have worked with and for local, state, and federal governments, at all levels, in a variety of human service delivery organizations. Overall, CSF staff has worked with state and local agencies in more than 30 states and has been engaged in work with the federal government and several national foundations, as well as numerous related professional organizations.

Linda Darter, CEO

ldarter@csfmail.org
678-296-0207
Ms. Darter is responsible for the management of CSF’s social services line of business, including organizational design, agency assessment, systems and practice training, policy and procedural development, and human services management consulting. Ms. Darter has worked in the public and private sectors of human services since 1967 and has directed social services programs in two states, South Carolina and Georgia. Her work has been concentrated in the areas of administration and management, policy formulation and analysis, technical assistance and training, and systems implementation. She has experience on local, state and national and international levels in a variety of human services programs, primarily child welfare and childcare. She has also worked with collaborative efforts with public and private agencies to foster understanding and resources sharing among a variety of human services programs. Ms. Darter was a founding member of the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators (NAPCWA).

T. Vernon Drew, President

vdrew@csfmail.org
240-463-5564
Mr. Drew has worked in human services since 1970. During his tenure, he has worked in the public and private sectors in the areas of administration and management, policy formulation and analysis, technical assistance and training, data conversion, and systems implementation. Mr. Drew is a veteran operations analyst with experience on local, state, and national and international levels. He has served as President of CSF since its beginning in 1991. In this capacity, he directs CSF’s child support enforcement practice with federal, state and local customers. He has management responsibility and works directly on projects investigating public policy questions concerning children and families, welfare, children’s rights (including support and visitation), and privatization. He has assisted states in the development of automated child support systems, quality assurance and program standards, identification of opportunities for policy and procedural changes in human services delivery, training development and delivery, and in privatization pursuits. Mr. Drew is a member of the Honorary Board of Directors of the Eastern Regional Interstate Child Support Association where is has previously served as President and was awarded the Felix Infausto Award ( ERICSA ) annual award for service to the Association. He has also served as President of the National Child Support Enforcement Association (NCSEA).

Jerry Milner, Vice President of Child and Family Services

jmilner@csfmail.org
240-743-9537
Jerry Milner, Vice President for Child Welfare Practice, has worked in public child welfare for 30+ years. The first 25 years were with the Alabama Department of Human Resources where he was a caseworker, county child welfare supervisor, State adoption manager, and State quality assurance director before becoming the State child welfare director during a period of massive child welfare practice reforms in the State. After retiring from the Alabama Department, he worked for the Children’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, for over 8 years managing the Federal Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) throughout the initial review of all States in the country.

Irma Neal, Vice President of Child Support Services

ineal@mail.csfmail.org
317-918-4186
Ms. Neal, with over 20 years experience in human services program management in private and public sectors, began her career as a caseworker in the Marion County Department of Public Welfare investigating child abuse and neglect. As managing owner of Service Design Associates, Inc. (now known as Tier Technologies) she directed projects and provided consultation to human service agencies. Ms. Neal is a former deputy mayor of the city of Indianapolis, where she was the chief executive in charge of metropolitan development, public housing, economic opportunity and youth/family services. Most recently she was Vice President of Childcare Services for ACS, concentrating on program areas of child care, child support and electronic benefits transfer (EBT). She was responsible for overseeing development and marketing of the company’s e-Childcare™ product (patent pending), which streamlines the payments to childcare providers and administration of the federally funded subsidized childcare program. For five years she was a chief business strategist and public sector industry consultant for IBM, developing computer systems for state government and implementing five State projects with a value of over $200 million. As chair of the operations committee of the U.S. Commission on Interstate Child Support she helped develop recommendations for comprehensive reform of the child support program, including registries of support orders and W-4 reporting of support obligations. As director of the DC Office of Child Support Enforcement, Ms. Neal was credited with substantially increasing paternities established, tripling collections and implementing innovative programs. She was named Manager of the Year by the National Child Support Enforcement Association for her work while IV-D Director in DC. During her tenure as Director of the Child Support Division of the Marion County Prosecutor’s office, she was responsible for implementing one of the first child support program’s IRS Intercept and electronic funds transfer programs.
Nancy Benner
nbenner@csfmail.org
240-293-2414
Ms. Benner currently heads up the EFT/EDI project at the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), encouraging employers to submit child support payments electronically. For this work she received the "Government Partner" recognition award from the American Payroll Association at their 2003 annual Congress. Ms. Benner is also responsible for development of publications and other materials to promote employer awareness and compliance in child support requirements like new hire reporting and income withholding. She received her BA in English from Duke University and her MA, also in English, from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to working for CSF, Ms. Benner spent 8 years in the field of international marketing and research.
Barry Blackburn
Bblackburn@csfmail.org
240-676-7181
Mr. Blackburn, a Senior Associate at CSF, has been a consultant in programs serving children since 1985. He has worked with over 20 states, several localities and the federal government on technical assistance, management consulting and training projects supporting child support enforcement, child protective services, child welfare and other human service programs. His project management experience includes analysis of policies and procedures, performance of workflow analysis, and writing policy and procedure manuals. Mr. Blackburn is skilled in the design, development, and delivery of operational and systems training for human service professional audiences. He holds a Master’s Degree in Social Service Administration from The University of Chicago.
Ann Clements
aclements@csfmail.org
240-778-9998
Ms. Clements, Senior Associate at CSF, has over 15 years in the field of Child Support. She is presently working in Columbia, SC with the CSES/FCCMS project as a Subject Matter Expert. Previously, she was the Operational Manager and District Manager with the Hampton District Office. She worked with Policy Studies, Inc. from May of 2002 to July of 2008 in the states of South Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia. Prior to May 2002, she worked with MAXIMUS as Project Manager of the Horry Regional Child Support Office in Conway, SC. She began her career in Child Support in the Regional Office in Florence, SC. She also taught school for 10 years before working in the area of Child Support.
Richard Dietz
rdietz@csfmail.org
240-676-3668
Richard Dietz has over forty years of extensive child welfare case work, administrative, and management experience. He has an M.S.W. from the Tulane Graduate School of Social Work, New Orleans, Louisiana. After receiving his undergraduate and graduate degrees, Mr. Dietz worked in a number of capacities with the Arkansas State Division of Children and Family Services. His responsibilities included direct child welfare field services and supervision, administrative and management responsibilities including being the Director of the Division of Children and Family Services. He was in charge of state child care licensing, state worker training and policy development and served as the administrator of the state adoption agency developing their first special needs adoption program. Mr. Dietz was instrumental in the development of the state’s initial SACWIS program development. After leaving state government, Mr. Dietz joined the Child Welfare Institute, a national child welfare training organization, as a Senior Associate. He then joined the Center for the Support of Families as a Senior Associate where his assignments have included managing SACWIS training projects, child welfare initiatives and teaming with other Center staff on state case management projects. Other professional opportunities have included being the Director of the Georgia Office of Chinese Children Adoption International, an international adoption agency.
Amy Gober
agober@csfmail.org
240-778-9998
Ms. Gober, an attorney with more than 25 years of child support enforcement and family law experience, has expertise in drafting and interpreting policy as well as practical experience as a courtroom lawyer and mediator. During her CSF career, she has provided training and technical assistance to states, courts, and employers on child support enforcement law and procedure in many areas, including establishment of orders, enforcement and income withholding, interstate child support enforcement, medical support, and federal criminal nonsupport. She has developed training materials and policy guidance, authored training curriculum for interstate case processing and updated the handbook for child support attorneys published by the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement. Ms. Gober serves on the board of the National Child Support Enforcement Association and on its Policy and Government Relations Committee and Emerging Issues subcommittee.
Paula González
pgonzalez@csfmail.org
240-676-1427
Paula González has over 30 years of management and administrative experience in social services programs, including child support and child welfare programs, related fiscal policy and procedures, and associated information systems. She has experience in program design, curriculum development, and training delivery. She has managed program evaluation projects and training programs. In this capacity, Ms. González has worked directly with state-level policy and systems staff and county and local office management and service delivery staff in all core areas developing program improvement plans and training programs that support program management and operations needs. She has taken full advantage of the efficacies of CSF’s Program Evaluation and Improvement Methodology and Life of the Case ™ System Design and Testing Model, as applicable, in these engagements. Ms. González has held a number of management positions in state and county government, including State Director of Child Support Enforcement and Director of Information Resource Management for the Colorado Department of Social Services.
Wendy Gray
wgray@csfmail.org
240-676-7180
Ms. Gray, a Senior Associate with more than 30 years of public policy experience, has worked in the public, private and non-profit sectors, primarily in the areas of management, finance, and personnel. She is currently working with the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) on its Project to Avoid Increasing Delinquencies (PAID) national initiative as well as serving as Medical Child Support task lead. She has worked on several initiatives in the child support enforcement community that address innovations in such areas as incentives and performance measures for child support agencies, strategic planning, privatization and certification of child support enforcement workers. In addition, Ms. Gray has produced outreach and informational media in video and written form for people working with various human service agencies.
Margaret Campbell Haynes
mhaynes@csfmail.org
240-743-8007
Ms. Haynes has 25 years of experience with legal issues related to child support. Her focus is on policy and procedures development, legal writing, and training on issues such as interstate support, international child support, and child support guidelines. Ms. Haynes is the former Director of the American Bar Association Child Support Project. From 1990 - 1992 she served as Chair of the U.S. Commission on Interstate Child Support. Its report to Congress was the basis for the child support title of welfare reform legislation enacted in 1996. From 2004 - 2007 Ms. Haynes served as a member of the United States delegation to the Hague Convention on International Recovery of Maintenance. Ms. Haynes served as an official observer to the UIFSA Drafting Committee of the Uniform Law Commissioners from 1990 to 2008. She has developed judicial, attorney, and caseworker curricula on UIFSA, and conducted UIFSA training in more than 35 states. In 1999 Ms. Haynes received the Commissioner’s Distinguished Service Award from the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement for her work on behalf of children. In 2000 ERICSA presented her with its Felix Infausto Award for outstanding contributions in the area of interstate child support. In 2005 NCSEA presented her with its Child Support Community Service Award.
Ms. Haynes received a B.A. degree cum laude from Davidson College and a J.D. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and North Carolina.
Stacey Hirsch
shirsch@csfmail.org
215-519-6006
Ms. Hirsch, Senior Associate, has worked in child welfare and education for over 15 years. Prior to joining CSF, she spent seven years directing a program that provided project management services, consulting support, and technical assistance to the Philadelphia Department of Human Services and its’ key stakeholders for numerous reform initiatives. Major projects included research, evaluation and monitoring, program and practice model design and development, resource development, capacity building, and training and technical assistance. She also spent three years working for the Child Welfare League of America in the National Center for Field Consultation, providing consultation services to public child welfare agencies. Prior to that, she spent several years as a kindergarten teacher and a childcare worker in Philadelphia. Ms. Hirsch holds a Master of Social Work in Social Policy and Program Planning from Temple University.
Vicky Hurshman
vhurshman@csfmail.org
240-676-1436
Ms. Hurshman, a Senior Associate at CSF, has over 20 years experience in both public and private sectors analyzing, organizing, developing and training of business and computer processes, practices and procedures. She is also skilled in public relations, office management, personnel management and budget analysis. Ms. Hurshman provides expertise in computer and web based training authoring, simulation and animation software. For clients of CSF she provides curriculum design, development, delivery, and support for instructor led and automated, interactive, multi-media computer and website training. Ms. Hurshman also brings many years experience in technical assistance, consulting, and outreach, having worked on multiple projects with CSF supporting child support enforcement, child protective services, child welfare, and other human service programs. She is a current member of NCSEA, ERICSA and the National Paralegal Association. Ms. Hurshman holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management
Eleanor Landstreet
elandstreet@csfmail.org
240-723-6025
Ms. Landstreet has been a Senior Associate with CSF since January of 2006. She is an attorney, serving as Senior Program Advisor for the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) in the areas of child support and data privacy since April 2006. She has devoted 15 years to children and families issues. Before law school, she taught HeadStart. Early in her legal career, she represented juveniles for the S.C. Department of Youth Services; represented parents, children, and guardians ad litem in abuse, neglect, terminations of parental rights, custody, divorce, and adoptions for S.C. legal services; taught Street Law to juveniles; and served as assistant district attorney in child support enforcement in Philadelphia. Thereafter, she served as assistant director of the American Bar Association (ABA) Center for Children and the Law’s Child Support Project; directed a State Justice Institute/ABA/OCSE pilot project in the S.C. courts for the pro se modification of child support awards; wrote and taught child support curricula at the state and national level; and served as executive director of the National Child Support Enforcement Association. Temporarily living with her family in Egypt, she served part-time as writer/editor for USAID-Egypt in the areas of democracy/governance and population/health of Egyptian families and chaired the Multicultural Committee at Cairo American College. Upon her return to the U.S., she assisted in the development of training for the Virginia Child Support Call Center. Ms. Landstreet received a B.A. from Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia and a law degree from the University of South Carolina. She is licensed to practice law in Washington, D.C. (active), S.C. (active) and Pennsylvania (inactive). She also serves on the program advisory board for the United States Egypt Friendship Society.
Robyn Large
rlarge@csfmail.org
240-676-1437
Robyn Large has worked in the area of child support enforcement and child welfare for over twenty one years. She has worked in the public and private sectors, having over ten years of child support and eligibility field experience. Ms. Large has years of experience managing child support projects as well as delivering training for child support and child welfare professionals. She has experience in training design, training materials development and training delivery. She is a current Executive Board Member of the Eastern Regional Interstate Child Support Association (ERICSA).
Pam Levin
plevin@csfmail.org
301-587-9622
Ms. Levin serves the Center for the Support of Families as proposal manager and editor. She provides editing, writing, design, and research for project support; marketing materials; and proposals. Her previous experience includes marketing and foreign rights in addition to writing, editing, desktop design, and other aspects of publishing, both locally and internationally. Ms. Levin has both published with and provided translation and marketing services for children’s and university publishing house divisions.
Cynthia Manuel
cmanuel@csfmail.org
240-672-7668
Cynthia Manuel brings to CSF a solid background in child welfare program delivery and policy development. A Senior Associate with CSF, Ms. Manuel is currently the project manager for the Philadelphia Title IV-E Quality Assurance and Business Process Improvement Project. She is also part of the CSF team supporting the City of Philadelphia in the redesign of their child welfare agency. Ms. Manuel worked on the Indiana Department of Child Services project which included the redesign of policies and procedures and an assessment of several of their training curricula. Ms. Manuel worked on the alignment of documentation with agency practice and the redesign of the policy, procedure and practice guidance for the Iowa DHS child welfare redesign initiative. Other projects include providing training, technical assistance and consultation support for the integration of competency based strength-based, family-centered model of practice for the Fairfax County VA Department of Family and Children’s Services. Prior to joining CSF Ms. Manuel worked for the Pennsylvania Office of Children, Youth and Families in their policy office. She is experienced in writing foster care and adoption policy and most recently headed a fiscal policy support unit. This unit was responsible for Title IV-E policy including the federal Title IV-E review and federal reporting, and state management of the Title IV-B and CBCAP funds. Ms. Manuel spent nearly 10 years as a direct service worker in a county children and youth agency in Pennsylvania. Ms. Manuel holds a Master of Social Work degree from Temple University.
Deb Miller-Drossel
dmiller@csfmail.org
240-676-1434
With over 25 years experience in social service programs, Senior Associate Ms. Miller-Drossel has direct service experience as an eligibility worker and supervisor, foster care social worker, and as a child support caseworker and supervisor. During her CSF career she has developed child support policy and procedure manuals, training curricula, training tools and desk reference guides. Ms. Miller-Drossel designed and delivered customer service training to child support staff in DC, Marin County California, the GA State Disbursement Unit and the DC Child Support Clearinghouse (SDU). She has developed training materials for statewide automated child support and child welfare systems, including trainer and participant manuals, CBT courses, and Training of Trainers courses. Ms. Miller-Drossel delivered automated systems training to end users in CA, HI, VA, WI and IL. She conducted UIFSA roundtable training for OH child support staff and participated in the program evaluation of LA child support enforcement.
Elizabeth Morgan
emorgan@csfmail.org
240-676-1431
Ms. Morgan has been involved in child support programs in both the public and private sectors since 1987, from providing direct services to the public, to writing policy, preparing agency budgets, and administering statewide programs. Before coming to CSF, Ms. Morgan worked for Washington State’s child support program, where she first worked in the field, and later managed the program’s Legal and Policy section. In 2000, Ms. Morgan joined CSF where she has specialized in program policy and fiscal issues including: program funding, performance measurement, undistributed collections, and child support distribution and disbursement. Ms. Morgan holds a B.A. in psychology from Whitman College, a Masters in psychology from Western Washington University, and a J.D., cum laude, from Seattle University School of Law.
Terri J. Nickel
tnickel@csfmail.org
240-676-1430
Ms. Nickel is the Director of Child Support Operations for CSF. Ms. Nickel has over twenty years’ experience in the public and private sectors in training, outreach, technical assistance and project management for child support professionals, social service providers and the employer community; program assessment and design improvement for systems, social service programs, and customer services; information systems design and development; and facilitation of strategic planning and consensus-building forums. Ms. Nickel has worked with the Center for the Support of Families since its inception in 1991 and received a B.A. cum laude from the College of William & Mary. She is a current Board Member of the Eastern Regional Interstate Child Support Association (ERICSA).
Susan Paikin
spaikin@csfmail.org
240-676-1435
Ms. Paikin, Senior Associate, joined CSF in 1994, after serving over 15 years as a Master in the Delaware Family Court. She focuses on public policy work and training, including with the federal OCSE and more than 20 states. She has lectured and written extensively on a range of child support, paternity and custody issues and served as on official observer to the NCCUSL Drafting committees for UIFSA and the UPA (2002). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Michigan (1970), a Master’s degree in College Counseling Psychology (1971) and a J.D. from Delaware Law School of Widener University (1978, cum laude). She is a member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Huong Tran
huongtran@csfmail.org
301-587-9622
Huong Tran, an Associate, joined CSF in the capacity of comptroller, bookkeeper, and human resources administrator. Well-versed in social services issues, she is able to provide CSF with administrative services that integrate her familiarity with the contract work. Ms. Tran speaks fluent Vietnamese and holds a degree in international business.
Eliza Van Dusen
evandusen@csfmail.org
240-499-4388
Ms. Van Dusen is an Associate at CSF, with a dual masters in Macro Social Work and Governmental Administration from the University of Pennsylvania. While in her graduate studies, Ms. Van Dusen worked on a project monitoring the performance-based contracting system in the Philadelphia Department of Human Services as well as assisting with the development of a pre-release planning model for incarcerated adults in Philadelphia, based on best practices from around the country. Prior to working for CSF, Ms. Van Dusen worked at the National Center on Family Homelessness, as a program and policy analyst.
Cathy Welsh
cwelsh@csfmail.org
240-676-1432
Ms. Welsh, MSW has over 20 years child welfare experience at local, state and national levels. A Senior Associate at CSF, she is currently Project Manager in the Philadelphia Title IV-E Quality Assurance and Business Process Improvement Project. Ms. Welsh also worked on the alignment of documentation with agency practice and the redesign of the policy, procedure and practice guidance for the Iowa DHS child welfare redesign initiative. Other projects included providing training, technical assistance and consultation support for the integration of competency based strength-based, family-centered model of practice for Fairfax County VA Department of Family and Children’s Services. Prior to joining the Center, Ms. Welsh served as Vice President at the Child Welfare Institute in Atlanta, providing consultation and training to federal, state and local child welfare agencies on policy, practice and organizational development in child protective services, foster care, child safety, permanency, and transition to adulthood.