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Raquel Mazon Jeffers

Director, Division of Addiction Services

Raquel Mazon Jeffers began working with the New Jersey State Department of Human Services in November 2002 in the Office of Planning and Special Initiatives. In June 2003, she became Special Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner for Family and Community Services. In that role, she was one of the architects of the substance abuse treatment components of the Child Welfare Reform Plan and proceeded to implement initiatives focused on expanding, enhancing, and integrating access to substance abuse treatment services for families involved with child welfare as well as with other systems.

Prior to working with the State of New Jersey , Raquel was the Universal Access Coordinator in the City of Trenton , Department of Health and Human Services and facilitated access to health care for uninsured residents of Trenton .

Before coming to New Jersey , Raquel was the Director for Managed Care at a network of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in New York City called the Community Health Care Network (CHN). At CHN she provided leadership as the agency underwent a transition from fee-for-service Medicaid to Medicaid managed care. Preceding her work with community based health centers, Raquel was a program associate at the Ford Foundation in the Human Development and Reproductive Health Unit. This two year fellowship focused on grant making in the United States and around the world, in the field of reproductive health in the context of economic development. While at the Foundation, she formulated a new initiative specific to welfare reform and its impact on women's health.

Raquel's graduate work was at Columbia University in New York City at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and at the School of Public Health . She holds two Master's degrees: a Master's of International Affairs in Economic and Political Development with a specialization in Latin America and a Master's of Public Health (MPH) in Population and Family Health. She has worked at the community level in El Salvador , Mexico , India , and in Washington Heights , New York City.

Ms. Jeffers was promoted to the position of Director for the Division of Addiction Services (DAS) from her earlier post as Acting Special Assistant to the Acting Director of DAS.