J. Janelle George
Deputy Director, Office of Community Services (OCS)
Janelle George is the deputy director in the Office of Community Services (OCS), within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). As deputy director, she provides oversight in the areas of program operations, budget, human resources, and procurement. Ms. George’s primary responsibility is to strengthen the administrative and management support provided to all OCS divisions and its programs. She also serves as the acting director of the Division of Social Services.
Prior to serving as deputy director, Ms. George served as the acting director of OCS (2017-2018) where she was responsible for the oversight of OCS programs, totaling approximately $1.58 billion in grant funds. Before that, Ms. George served as a program specialist on the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), where she supported state and tribal CSBG grant recipients in Regions I and VIII, and helped to restructure CSBG training and technical assistance programs. She was also a program specialist for the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG). Ms. George served as a program manager for the Assets for Independence (AFI) program, where she oversaw AFI program operations, including grant recipient training and technical assistance and monitoring site visits. Ms. George began her federal service in 2005 through the Department of Health and Human Services’ Emerging Leaders Program.
Prior to joining ACF, Ms. George served as an adjunct clinical assistant professor at Saint Louis University’s School of Social Work and at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. She is experienced in foster care, adoption, criminal justice, and domestic and international community development. Ms. George was also a licensed behavior foster parent for the State of Missouri for four years.
Ms. George earned her Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and her Master of Social Work from the Saint Louis University School of Social Work. She has undergraduate degrees in social work and sociology from North Carolina State University.