William A.B. Ditto

William A.B. Ditto has directed the activities of the Division of  Disability Services since it was initially created as the Office of Disability Services in 1997. He has spent his career developing and administering social service programs, many of them for people with disabilities.

Mr. Ditto joined the Department of Human Services in 1985 when he was recruited to design and implement the Personal Attendant Demonstration project. The ten-county pilot project, which offered consumer-directed home care services to adults with disabilities, is now a state-wide program that is administered through the Division for Disability Services. Over the years he has obtained and administered a number of federal and foundation grant programs including the Statewide Respite Care Pilot program, the Cash and Counseling Demonstration project and, most recently, the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Demonstration Program.

Prior to joining state government, Mr. Ditto worked for the Monmouth County Board of Social Services in Freehold for eight years as a social worker. There he developed a special program to provide services to people with spinal cord injuries. He also helped found the Monmouth County Office for the Disabled and served as a board member for the organization which established the MOCEANS Independent Living Center. Working with a group of people with disabilities, he also founded POWER, Inc. (People on Wheels for Education and Rehabilitation), a community-based organization offering recreation, socialization and advocacy.

Mr. Ditto serves on the Catastrophic Illness in Children's Relief Fund Commission, the New Jersey Statewide Independent Living Council, the New Jersey Association of County Offices for the Disabled and as staff to the New Jersey Advisory Council on Traumatic Brain Injury.

Mr. Ditto received both an A.A. and B.A. degree from Monmouth College and an M.S.W. from Rutgers University. He is an adjunct faculty member at the Rutgers School of Social Work, where he teaches a number of different graduate courses.