Public Service Innovators-- Olivia Golden (MPP '81, PhD '83): Fulfilling Her Obligation

Olivia Golden MPP 1981, PhD 1983 grew up lucky. The daughter of parents who immigrated from Germany and Romania to Amherst, a liberal college town in an area of Massachusetts known as the "happy valley," Golden was encouraged to take advantage of the extraordinary opportunities that her parents believed America offered.

As she eventually learned, not all children are as fortunate. This is part of the reason why she signed on seven months ago as director of Child and Family Services, the embattled Washington D.C child protection agency that, prior to her tenure, had been under strict control (the federal courts managed it) and intense scrutiny (the Washington Post did a yearlong investigation of the agency following the deaths of children under its care). It was a challenge that this former director of the Children's Defense Fund and assistant secretary for children and families in the Clinton administration felt she was ready for.

"I served in the administration for almost the whole eight years and at the end thought I'd go back into academia," Golden says, explaining her four years teaching at the Kennedy School. "But, I knew if the right thing came along, I'd be right back in government. This was the right thing."

Before she accepted the position, however, Golden spent lots of time learning about the reform efforts already underway in the agency, once described as the most dysfunctional in the nation. "I like difficult, but not impossible," she says. What she found was a surprising commitment being made by the staff, community members, and local politicians, including fellow Kennedy School alum Anthony Williams MPP 1987, who is the mayor of DC and a former foster child.

"People have been giving their hearts to this agency," she says. "Mayor Williams, for example, has made a set of commitments that made this moment an opportunity."

Now half a year later, Golden feels she and her team have made progress. They've created a national advisory board that connects them to experts. She recruited a new management team and elevated the attention given to foster and adoptive parents. And, she is working closely with local universities to recruit talented social workers.

With 3,000 children in the district currently in foster care and another 1,100 waiting to be adopted, Golden knows there is still a tough road ahead, however. It helps to remember why she's there, she says.

"A former colleague once reminded me that progress is a marathon, not a sprint," she says. "This work is intense and the stakes are high. But my parents taught me that we have an obligation to others. This obligation has been behind all of the choices I've made in my life. And in the end, it matters what we do for children."

To learn more about the agency, including job opportunities and ways that you can get involved as a foster or adoptive parent, call 202-671-LOVE.

Are there others in the Kennedy School community that you think should be profiled for Innovations in Public Service? Please contact Rob Meyer at Rob_Meyer@ksg.harvard.edu.