Effective July 1, Mary C. Berg will become director of the Children, Youth & Families Division within the Jefferson County Human Services Department. The division employs 165 people and has an annual budget of $28 million.

As director, she will oversee adoption, child protection, foster care placement and youth services in Jefferson County. She will also be responsible for program development, policy analysis and interagency collaboration.

Named acting director in January, Berg has been a Jefferson County employee since 1995. She joined the county as a caseworker following a seven-year stint working in residential treatment facilities in Wisconsin. Since then, she has managed teams that provide case management and protective services to Jefferson County children and families.

“Mary has already helped to improve relationships with the courts and other partners,” noted Human Services Director Sherri Almond.  “She has demonstrated her ability to promote teamwork and manage our complex network of services and partnerships.”

Berg holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. In 2002, she joined the faculty of the Metropolitan State College of Denver as an instructor in social work policy.