News Flash

Lisa Berger has been promoted to Social Services Deputy Director effective April 18, 2021.  Berger has undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Sociology.  She immersed herself in clinical work in the mental health field for 5 years before coming to Rowan County DSS as a Child Protective Services (CPS) Social Worker in December 1997.  

“I stepped out on faith and moved to Rowan County from West Virginia to start a new career in Child Protective Services,” Berger said. “Every day working in Social Work Services was an adventure. It was an opportunity for me to help others and to learn from others, and I had strong mentors to help me along the way,” she continued.

Berger was quickly promoted to Social Work Supervisor in CPS, where she served for over 16 years.  In 2016, Berger accepted the challenging role of Program Administrator of the Social Work Services Division, which was still undergoing transition after the merge of child welfare and adult services.  Among many accomplishments as Program Administrator, she played a key role in sustaining the Partnering for Excellence (PFE) initiative, which is aimed at identifying and addressing trauma-related needs as early as possible.  In fact, she has worked closely with DSS staff and community partners such that PFE has become “how we do business.”  

Berger is described as having a “steadiness” about her and being calm in a crisis.  Keeping her leaders and staff up-to-date on policy and practice is a high priority, and she has a PowerPoint for that!  Berger is also credited in her division with consistently using data to drive practice.  Her collaborative work with a wide variety of internal and external partners to achieve better outcomes for the customers we serve, as well as her leadership in the Social Work Services Division to “inspect what you expect,” are hallmarks of her dedicated career to-date.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to continue my partnership with Director Ennis on achieving the vision we have for the department,” Berger said of her new position.  “We are striving to put service excellence at the forefront for staff and the community we serve. I look forward to enhancing quality assurance through training and using data to guide practice across all service areas throughout the department.”

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