Foster Care & Extended Foster Care, Press Releases & Announcements

Former Youth Law Center Equal Justice Works Fellow Jennifer Troia Sworn in as Director of the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) 

This Foster Care Month, we are giving a special shout-out to former Youth Law Center Equal Justice Works Fellow, Jennifer “Jen” Troia, who was appointed and sworn in by the Senate in as the new Director of the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) in April.

Ms. Troia leads over 5,500 employees at the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), serving more than 7 million people. Since joining CDSS in January 2020, she has held leadership roles across multiple divisions. With over 20 years of experience in child, adult, and family services, she previously worked in the California Legislature and began her career as a child and youth advocate. She holds a J.D. from UC Berkeley and a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Florida.

During her time as an Equal Justice Works Fellow at the Youth Law Center in 2004, Ms.Troia led an advocacy project to improve the lives of the then nearly 14,000 foster youth who were placed in group homes in California. Her project focused on foster youth who are often cut off from their communities and given inadequate opportunities to learn, to form relationships and to succeed in their lives. Through her EJW project, her goal was to ensure the legal rights of these youth were respected while they were in institutional care. Ms. Troia’s advocacy was an important part of moving California to acknowledge the harm children experience in congregate care and begin to build new frameworks for ensuring every child can live in a family in their community. We are grateful for Ms. Troia’s decades of leadership and service to children, youth and their families in California.