Meet Our Administrators
CHS of NJ Administrative Staff
Donna C. Pressma, LCSW, President and Chief Executive Officer
Donna, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, has been President & CEO of The Children’s Home Society of New Jersey since 1986. Donna received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Antioch College and earned a Master of Social Work degree from Smith College School for Social Work. Her published Master’s thesis research was done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In 1982 Donna merged two large child and family service agencies into the Jewish Family and Child Agency of Philadelphia. Previously she was the Executive Director of the Jewish Children’s Bureau of Chicago, a large urban and suburban child welfare and mental health agency. Prior to that she directed The State of Connecticut’s child welfare services under Governor Ella Grasso.
In 2006 Donna was appointed to Governor Corzine’s Transition Task Force for Child Welfare. Since 1975 she has worked nationally as a consultant to states and counties in delivering services to abused and neglected children and their families. She chairs the Child Welfare League of America’s (CWLA) Task Force on Children Youth and Families with HIV Infection and participated on many CWLA regional and national committees. She has taught child welfare policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s School for Social Work and has conducted numerous workshops, written articles and given testimony to Congress. Donna joined Senator Metzenbaum, Surgeon General Koop and Dr. Orleski in presenting testimony to Congress that resulted in funding of the Ryan White Act. Donna was included in A STUDY IN EXCELLENCE, Management in the Nonprofit Human Services.
Directors
Chief Financial Officer
Bob is the Chief Financial Officer for CHS. Bob has been with CHS for 24 years, planning, directing, and coordinating the financial activities of the agency. He also is responsible for all the facilities and for the IT at each location. Prior to CHS Bob had worked for a financial institution as their Operations Manager. Bob has degrees in Business Administration and Accounting from Trenton State College. Contact Bob at
Director of Quality Assurance
Pat holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from Immaculata College, PA and a Masters of Social Work from the University of Georgia Athens, GA with a specialization in child welfare. She has worked at CHS of NJ for 24 years in several different capacities. Currently, Pat is in charge of quality assurance, training, accreditation; administer Intensive Services Program, Kinship Services. She has 13 years experience at DYFS; supervisory experience in protective services, adoption, foster care, teen pregnancy. Contact Pat at
Director of Ocean County Services
TANF / Work First New Jersey, DYFS, PACC, EEI, CCHC, Ocean County
Maureen has a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education from William Paterson University and has worked for CHS of NJ for almost 11 years. She supervises TANF/WFNJ Child Care Subsidy (Temporary Aid to Needy Families/Work First New Jersey), CPS Child Care Subsidy (Child Protective Services), PACC Child Care Subsidy (Post Adoption Child Care), EEI Child Care Subsidy (Early Employment Initiative) and supervises the Child Care Health Consultant. Maureen is also an agency representative for NJACCRRA (New Jersey Association of Child Care Resource and Referrals Agencies), an agency representative for the One Stop Collaborative, which operates under the Workforce Investment Board, an NJACCRRA representative for ECCS (Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems) grant, a statewide collaborative effort and she sat on the statewide TANF Steering Committee, Child Care Subcommittee. Maureen is an avid reader and a sports enthusiast. Contact Maureen at
Director of Operations, Early Childhood & Community Based Services
Dolores has a Masters Degree from the Rutgers School of Social Work and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Douglass College, Rutgers University. She has worked at CHS of NJ for almost nine years. Dolores is also a NJ Licensed Social Worker, a graduate of Fellow Leadership Trenton Class of 2007, John S. Watson Policy Institute; a member of the National COA Advisory Committee for Healthy Families America and a member of the Trenton School Based Advisory Board. She enjoys reading and working as a community volunteer. Contact Dolores at
Director of Administration
Florence has been with The Children's Home Society of New Jersey since 1987. She is the Director of Administrative Services with oversight of support staff and the human resources division of the agency. She works directly for the President & CEO and works closely with the Board of Directors. Previously, Florence was the office manager for a multi-media firm in Princeton, NJ. She lives in Yardley, PA with her husband of 41 years, Ted. They have a daughter and a son and two beautiful granddaughters. Contact Florence at
Director of FACES
Susan Paul, LCSW, was originally hired in December as supervisor of our FACES program and will now serve as Director of Clinical and Mental Health Services. She will still oversee FACES as one of her programs. Susan has a BA in Philosophy from Beloit College and an MA in Social Work from the University of Chicago. Before coming to CHS of NJ she was the clinical director of Earth House, a residential program for adolescents and young adults with chronic mental illness, and later developed a private practice to work with children and adolescents who had been sexually abused. Susan was most recently employed as the ValueOptions Regional Systems Specialist for six central New Jersey counties. She is a member of several professional associations including the American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work and the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.
Contact Susan at
Director of Family Support Services, Latino Outreach & Parenting Programs
Maritza has been with CHS of NJ since June of 2004. She received an Executive Master in Public Administration from the Graduate School of Public Affairs and Administration, a Graduate Certificate in Non-Profit Management and a Spanish/English Translation Proficiency Certificate from Rutgers University. She oversees several agency programs and services including the South Ward Family Success Center, the CUNA Prenatal Health Education & Support Group Program, the Fun with Books and Music Program, the MAYA Mentoring Program and the BURP Program. She is also responsible for CHS of NJ's Latino Advisory Committee. Maritza is also a graduate of Thomas Edison State College's Leadership Trenton Fellowship Program at the John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy, the New Jersey Latino Leadership Institute at the Center for Urban Development at Rutgers University, and the Hispanic Interns in Community Service Program at the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. She resides in the city of Trenton with her husband William and her daughter Gabriela María. Contact Maritza at
Director of Early Head Start Home-Based Program
Merlene Taylor, MPS, Ed.S, began in January to serve as the director of our new federally funded Early Head Start Home-Based Program. In addition to having a Masters Degree in Professional Studies from the New School for Social Research, she has a Post Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from The College of New Jersey and a Master of Divinity degree from Philadelphia Biblical University. Prior to joining our staff Merlene was Assistant Vice President of Resource Investment with special focus on early childhood services at the United Way of Greater Mercer County. She was also a home-based therapist with Greater Trenton Behavioral Health Care and a former director of social service for the Millhill Child and Family Development Corporation. Merlene was also an instructor in the Education Department at Mercer County College.
Contact Merlene at
Director of Funds Development
Colleen has a Bachelor of Art Degree in Communications from Rowan University. She has worked at CHS of NJ since 1998 in several capacities including Public Relations Director and Special Events Director - and most recently as Funds Development Director, supervising and participating in fundraising, special events, publicity, website development, corporate sponsorship development, as well as community outreach. Contact Colleen at
Director of Corporate Development and Volunteerism
Tracey joined The Children’s Home Society in September 2008 as our Director of Corporate Development and Volunteerism. Her part-time position focuses on corporate fundraising, outreach and volunteerism and she helps support the overall volunteer program. Prior to joining CHS Tracey worked in various aspects of accounting and finance at Prudential and Dow Jones. She holds a BS in Accounting from Montclair State University and an MBA in Finance from Rutgers University. Contact Tracey at
Director of Grants and Program Development
Jack Murray began in March as Director of Grants and Program Development. Jack has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is a candidate for a Master of Public Administration in Health Policy from NYU’s Robert Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Before coming to CHSofNJ, Jack was Grant Writer for the National Urban League. He brings more than 15 years of experience in grants procurement and stewardship to the position, and has worked for New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, the Wolfe-Harris Center for Clinical Studies, and the Center for Health Law & Policy/ Center for Conflict Management at William Mitchell College of Law. Contact Jack at
Program Administrators
Program Director
New Jersey Cares for Kids (NJCK) / Kinship, Ocean County
Debbie has worked for CHS of NJ for thirteen years. She has a Bachelor of Science in General Business Administration from Trenton State College (The College of New Jersey). Contact Debbie at
Supervisor, FCC Complaints, Directors' Academy, Ocean County Early Learning Council
Joan has a Bachelor of Arts in Education from The College of Saint Elizabeth, Convent Station, NJ, with a minor in Business. She holds a NJ Teaching Certificate and had been a teacher for over 25 years. Joan has been working for CHS of NJ for eight years. She oversees Family Child Care Registration and our Special Needs Network, the Resource and Referral Desk, the Approved Home Quality Initiative, and the Child Care Center Directors' Academy. She is also active in our Ocean County Early Learning Council and am a facilitator for the New Jersey Accreditation Facilitation Project through the New Jersey Professional Development Center. Joan is also a mentor for family child care providers to help with their accreditation through the National Association of Family Child Care and remains an advocate for children and families personally and through her participation representing The Children's Home Society at statewide meetings. Contact Joan at
Kinship Program Administrator
Linda began her career with CHS of NJ in March 2005 in the foster care department. She is now the Program Administrator of the Kinship Program. Linda has a BSW and MSW from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec Canada. She has worked in the field of Child Welfare for the past thirty years. Linda began her career in child protective services and was the supervisor of the Physical and Sexual Abuse team as well as being one of two agency trainers of Child Welfare. Prior to coming to CHS of NJ, Linda was the Assistant Director of a treatment program for youth involved with the court system. In addition, Linda has presented material on child abuse at National and International conferences over the past fifteen years. Contact Linda at
Supervisor of Adoption, Infant Foster Care, Birth Parent Counseling
Christine has a Bachelors Degree and a Masters Degree. She has worked for CHS of NJ 1984 to 1986 in the Intensive Service Program. From 1987 to 1990, she worked as needed in Intake Services and Domestic Adoption Background Report Services. Christine has since worked for CHS of NJ as Birth Parent Social Worker, Domestic Adoption Social Worker, Safety Assessment Supervisor, and Supervisor For Birth Parent Counseling, Domestic Adoption, Infant Foster Care and Medically Fragile Foster Care. Contact Christine at
Supervisor of FACES, Family Outreach Support Workers
Carolyn has a Master's Degree in Counseling from the College of New Jersey since 1998. She has a license in Professional Counseling (Licensed Professional Counselor - LPC) since 1998 and a national Certification for Professional Counselors since 1999. She is a member of the National Certified Counselors since 1999 and also holds a Certificate in Alcoholism Counseling from the College of NJ since 1998. Carolyn is also a Registered Art Therapist - ATR since 1988 and has been a member of the American Art Therapy Association - AATA since 1988. She is an artist (painting in particular) and gardener and enjoys doing restoration art and antiques (particularly picture frame restoration). Contact Carolyn at
Supervisor of KIKS and NJ After 3
Louise has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Delaware State University and has worked at CHS of NJ for almost two years. She oversees and administrates programming for over 500 students in 3 school districts. Contact Louise at
Program Supervisor
Ann is a Licensed Professional Counselor, with a Master's Degree in Counseling and a Certificate in Drug and Alcohol Counseling. Ann has worked at CHS for seven years including Adoption Support Services. Ann has been Program Administrator for 6 programs at CHS for the past 3 years. Those programs include Adoption Support Services, Behavioral Supports for Adoptive Families, Promoting Safe and Stable Families (all of which work with foster and adoptive children and families), and Post Adoption Background. Ann supervises a staff of eight social workers, licensed professional counselors and supportive counselors, as well as seven foster homes. Ann is married to a retired band director and has a daughter, who has a Master's Degree in Math Education and teaches high school math. Contact Ann at