MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA HIRES BURKE SENIOR FOSTER CARE POLICY DEPUTY AS DEPUTY MAYOR

  

August 5, 2008                                                                                                              Contact:   James Bolden , Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke 

                                            213.200.5314

 

MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA HIRES BURKE SENIOR

FOSTER CARE POLICY DEPUTY AS DEPUTY MAYOR

 

With almost 30 years of policy experience in County, City and private sector,

Miriam Long will oversee Mayor’s work in education and youth services

 

LOS ANGELES COUNTY – Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has announced the appointment of Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke’s deputy handling foster care, homelessness and early development policy, Miriam Long, as his new Deputy Mayor for Education, Youth and Families.

 

For 12 years, Long has served as a key policy advisor to Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne on all issues related to foster care, seniors, homelessness, early childhood development and child care, LAUP, the First 5 Commission and the County Department of Public Social Services.

 

As Supervisor Burke’s lead deputy for reforming Los Angeles’ overwhelmed foster care system, Long was a major force behind a nationally-acclaimed “Point of Engagement” program in the County that emphasizes early, upfront assessment and family services for children at risk of entering foster care.

 

“The County of Los Angeles will certainly miss Miriam for her dedicated service and the many innovative programs and policies she has spearheaded for over a decade,” Burke said today, adding that during Long’s tenure, foster care placements in the County dropped from 70,000 children in 1997 to under 20,000 in 2008.

 

 “Miriam is an inspired addition to our team who brings years of know-how and a thorough understanding of the issues that matter most to families in Los Angeles,” said Mayor Villaraigosa.

 

In addition to launching the POE pilot project that was replicated County-wide, Long shepherded a similar program through the County’s First 5 Commission, bringing $50 million into County services for children at risk of abuse and neglect.

 

Before joining Supervisor Burke’s office, Long served for five years as the Manager of Government and Public Affairs for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, where she managed a $16 million Hollywood Construction Impact Program, served as the City Council liaison for the Executive Director, and supervised a team of consultants of transportation projects in the Western side of Los Angeles County.

 

Long has also served as a legislative analyst for the City of Los Angeles for three years and a ratings specialist for Standard & Poor’s. She graduated from the University of Southern California and has a Masters in Public Policy from Princeton University.

 

In her new role, Long will oversee the Mayor’s education policy, as well as serving as a top-level liaison with the City’s departments of Recreation and Parks, Disability and Cultural Affairs, the Los Angeles Public Library, El Pueblo and the Commission on Children Youth & Their Families.

 

She succeeds former Deputy Mayor Ray Cortines, who joined the Los Angeles Unified School District as a Senior Deputy Superintendent in April.

 

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