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DCF Executive Management
View DCF's Table of Organization (pdf) Mary Helen Cervantes John A. Ducoff, Esq. Arburta E. Jones, M.P.A. Christine Mozes Erin O'Leary, Esq. Nadezhda Robinson Lisa Alexander-Taylor Janet Share Zatz Director, Division of Prevention and Community Partnerships Darrell LaRue Armstrong is responsible for managing and executing New Jersey's statewide strategy to prevent child abuse, maltreatment and neglect by strengthening and supporting New Jersey's families. He is a native of Los Angeles, Calif.and is considered a national leader on issues pertaining to child welfare and family strengthening, particularly foster and kinship care. He is a nationally acclaimed motivational speaker, grassroots faith-based organizer, and child welfare / family strengthening advocate. He brings several years of experience building community-based collaborations and organizing partnerships to work formally and informally with children and families across all socio-ethnic communities. His work experience includes employment as the faith-based manager of the African American Donor Task Force (Bay Area, Calif.) and Counselor with StanfordUniversity's federally-funded TRIO (Upward Bound) Program. He currently serves as the Pastor of the 1,700+ member Shiloh Baptist Church of Trenton, New Jersey. He is a former member of the N. J. Governor's Cabinet for Children (2002-2004) and co-chaired Governor Jon Corzine's Child Welfare Transition Team in 2005. In 2001, Darrell Armstrong carried the Olympic Torch for the 2002 Winter Olympics in honor of over 500,000 of America's foster children. His commitment to this work is deeply personal, because he and his three younger brothers spent many years of their lives as foster children in Los AngelesCounty. The Rev. Armstrong is a graduate of Stanford University (BA-Public Policy), of Princeton Theological Seminary (Masters of Divinity) and of the Collegeof New Jersey (Ed.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy). He has done additional coursework at the Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs. He and his wife, Melanie Armstrong, Esq. are the proud parents of Amaris Kayla and Daniel LaRue.
Mary Helen Cervantes comes to the Department of Children and Families with more than 12 years’ experience in the area of communications, media relations and community outreach. Most recently Ms. Cervantes served for four years as Assistant Commissioner for Communications and Legislation at the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) where she oversaw all the department’s communications, press and legislative programs. In her work with DEP and eight years managing communications programs for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – both in Washington, D.C. and the agency’s New York City-based regional office – Ms. Cervantes placed particular emphasis on expanding and developing outreach programs targeting low-income and minority communities. Prior to joining DEP, Ms. Cervantes worked eight years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) where she managed the communications office and oversaw media relations and public outreach programs for the New York City based office. She began her tenure with EPA working for Administrator Carol Browner in Washington, D.C., developing communications strategies to support the Agency’s regional and national environmental initiatives and legislative priorities. Before joining EPA, Ms. Cervantes served as an Assistant to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown, also coordinating media outreach events throughout the country and internationally. Ms. Cervantes also managed message events as a member of the White House advance staff for President Clinton and Vice President Gore. Ms. Cervantes received her Bachelor of Science degree in political science and economics from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1989 and completed graduate course work at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and University of California-Berkeley’s Graduate School of Public Policy.
John A. Ducoff, Esq. serves as DCF's Director of Legal Compliance & Strategic Planning. In that capacity, John oversees all of the Department's litigation, legal compliance, regulatory processes (including the licensing of child care centers, youth residential facilities, and resource family homes), Office of Information Technology & Reporting, Quality Analysis and Information and Policy. Before joining DCF, Mr. Ducoff served as a Deputy Commissioner in the Department of Human Services. In that capacity, John oversaw Legal, Policy, and Legislative Affairs and the Department's Disability Services divisions, including the Division of Developmental Disabilities, the Division of Disability Services, the Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the Division for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Prior to his tenure at the Department of Human Services, Mr. Ducoff served as Chief Counsel and Director of Litigation for the New Jersey Office of the Child Advocate and practiced law in the Newark office of Latham & Watkins LLP, where he focused on complex litigation and internal investigations. Mr. Ducoff received his undergraduate degree from Rutgers College and his law degree from Rutgers University School of Law - Camden. After graduation, he clerked for the Honorable Erminie L. Conley, P.J.A.D, and the Honorable James R. Zazzali, Associate Justice, New Jersey Supreme Court. Mr. Ducoff is a member in good standing of the Bar of the State of New Jersey, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
Arburta E. Jones, M.P.A., who most recently served as Chief of Staff for the New Jersey Office of the Child Advocate, brings a veteran's eye to the Department of Children and Families as the Executive Director of the Office of Community Services (Division of Prevention and Community Partnerships and Division of Central Operations). Ms. Jones previously served as the Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Program Integrity and Accountability in the Department of Human Services (DHS), responsible for launching significant reforms in the areas of licensing, investigations and quality assurance in State government. Ms. Jones also served in DYFS for 19 years in varying capacities and managed many initiatives, including the Comprehensive Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. She was instrumental in the development of the child safety structured decision-making model. Ms. Jones holds a Bachelor's of Social Work degree conferred by the University of Pittsburgh and a Masters of Public Administration degree from Rutgers University in Camden.
Christine M. Mozes, LSW is the director of DCF’s Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS), the state’s child welfare agency. Christine recently served as deputy director of DYFS for the past two years - most notably serving as the lead in the statewide implementation of DCF's Case Practice Model, one of the most important and ambitious aspects of our state's child welfare reform efforts. Christine's previous DYFS experience is as a Regional Assistant Director with oversight of seven counties in New Jersey's southern region, as well as a DYFS Area Director with complete management responsibilities over Mercer and Burlington counties. Prior to joining DYFS, Christine worked for over ten years with Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, ultimately serving as an Assistant Director for Youth Services and Director of Behavioral Health. She received her Master of Social Work Administration, Policy and Planning from Rutgers University School of Social Work and received her Bachelor of Social Work from Stockton State College. Additionally, Christine also has a Clinical Certificate in Adoption Practice from Rutgers University School of Social Work, Institute for Families.
Erin O'Leary is the Director of Licensing and Legal Affairs for the Department of Children and Families. In addition to her duties as liaison to the Administrative Office of the Courts and the Office of the Attorney General, Ms. O'Leary oversees the following units: Office of Legal & Regulatory Liaison, the Administrative Hearings Unit, the State and Federal Legislation Unit, the HIPAA/OPRA Unit, the Interstate Services Unit and the Office of Licensing. Before coming to DYFS, Ms. O'Leary was a Deputy Attorney General initially assigned to represent DYFS in abuse and neglect matters. During this assignment, she appeared in numerous bench trials and several appellate matters. Ms. O'Leary was later assigned to represent the Department of Health and Senior Services and Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, which included several administrative, civil and appellate matters. After graduating from Rugters School of Law - Camden, Ms. O'Leary clerked for the Honorable Stephen Skillman during the court year of 1998-1999. She is a member of the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Bars.
Nadezhda Robinson is the Director of the Division of Child Behavioral Health Services (DCBHS) which administers the mental health benefits of more than 25,000 New Jersey youth each year. DCBHS statewide component services include Care Management Organizations, statewide Youth Case Management Services, Family Support Organizations (FSO), Mobile Response Services and out of home treatment providers. Additionally, DCBHS contracts with outpatient and partial care providers, designates nine child and adolescents crisis units across the state and regulates the use of in-home services. Dr. Robinson, with a Ph.D. in Child Clinical Psychology from Seton Hall University, joined the Department as the first clinical administrator for DCBHS. Previously, she was a member of the leadership team at the Arthur Brisbane Child Treatment Center and worked successfully to safely close the hospital, redeploy staff and participate in the development of alternative community options for youth requiring intensive psychiatric intervention. Dr. Robinson’s work as an expert witness for the Division of Youth and Family Services, conducting bonding and fitness evaluations in Hudson County, honed her understanding and appreciation for challenges facing families, the courts, and child welfare in the endeavor to provide youth safe and permanent families. She has also worked as a Mental Health Consultant to the Head Start programs, a classroom teacher for developmentally disabled toddlers, an outpatient clinician for children and adults, and an administrator of children’s acute services at St. Mary Hospital in Hoboken.
Lisa Alexander-Taylor serves as the Chief of Staff, previously serving as DCF Director of Administration. Ms. Alexander-Taylor is an attorney by profession. She first served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor in New York City for six years. She then worked as Legal Counsel to the Newark Police Department for five years before spending three years as Deputy Police Director for the Office of Professional Responsibility in the Newark Police. In that role, she was responsible for the Office of Internal Affairs which handled thousands of employee misconduct, pre-employment and fitness for duty investigations annually. She joined the Department of Human Services in October 2002 as the Director of Program Compliance and Public Safety which encompassed managing the daily operations of units responsible for managing critical incidents occurring in State operated, licensed and contracted residential facilities and community programs, investigating abuse and neglect involving out-of-home child placements and persons with developmental disabilities and processing legislatively mandated electronic and manual fingerprint results. In addition, Ms. Alexander-Taylor served as the Director of the Human Services Police who are first responders to emergency and routine public safety calls for service and criminal investigations in the department’s facilities and operations statewide. Most recently, Ms. Alexander-Taylor had been promoted to Deputy Chief of Staff focusing on child welfare administration in DHS.
Janet Share Zatz serves as DCF Director of Administration overseeing human resources, equal employment and affirmative action, facilities and public safety services. Prior to assuming her current position, Ms. Zatz served as DCF's Director of Human Resources, Labor Relations and Training. Before coming to DCF, Ms. Zatz served as Deputy Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. As Chief Operations Officer for that department, she administered a number of federal and state funded programs benefiting New Jersey’s workers and businesses. Major programs included workforce development, disability services, unemployment and temporary disability insurance, labor planning and analysis, and labor standards and safety enforcement. Previously, Ms. Zatz served as Chief of Staff, Assistant Commissioner, Director and Deputy Director of Merit System Practices and Labor Relations within the New Jersey Department of Personnel. An attorney by profession, she also served as a Deputy Attorney General in the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety and as Law Secretary to the Honorable Leon S. Milmed, Superior Court, Appellate Division. Ms. Zatz received her B.A. degree, cum laude and with distinction, from Cornell University and her law degree from Rutgers University.
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