Cari DeSantis joined Casey Family Programs in 2008. Casey Family Programs is a national operating foundation whose mission is to provide, improve and ultimately prevent the need for foster care. As executive vice president for public affairs and communications, DeSantis directs the foundation’s work in public policy, research, communications, marketing and strategic alliances.
Career highlights
As a two-term cabinet secretary for the Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth & Their Families, DeSantis oversaw the state’s child welfare, foster care, adoption, juvenile justice and rehabilitation, juvenile probation, child mental health, and substance abuse services, as well as child care licensing, prevention, and family support. Her vision statement, Think of the Child First!, was the touchstone for significant system improvements in Delaware, culminating in a major overhaul of the state’s foster care system, measurable progress in child welfare performance, and expansion of quality mental and behavioral health services for children and families, especially in the inner city and most rural areas of the state. Under her leadership, the department also reduced juvenile detention populations, increased diversionary programs, and reduced reliance on residential care by building capacity for home- and community-based services.
DeSantis is president of the board of directors of the American Public Human Services Association and has chaired its National Policy Council and the Child & Family Services Committee. Formerly on the board of United Way of Delaware, she serves on several boards, including those of Nemours Health & Prevention Services, Delaware State University’s Institute for Public Health Policy, and the Delaware Child Poverty Task Force.
Prior to joining the Delaware governor’s cabinet in 2001, DeSantis started and ran a consulting firm specializing in management improvement for nonprofit and government agencies working in health care and social services. She is also a former vice president of one of Delaware’s top hospitals. DeSantis holds a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies/Medical Ethics and a Bachelor of Arts in English/Journalism. A frequent guest speaker and presenter, she is also a prolific writer and the author of three nonfiction books.
Selected public service and awards
Cari DeSantis was named Outstanding American of Italian Descent by the Delaware Columbus Day Committee in 2007. In 2006, she was an Eastern Region Finalist for the Council of State Governments’ Innovations Award. A four-time winner of the Delaware Quality Award, she has also been recognized with the 2003 Excellence in Public Service Award given by the Delaware Association for Public Administration, a 1992 University of Delaware Presidential Citation for Outstanding Achievement, and the 1991 Strong/Smart/Bold Award from Girls Inc. Her book Of Hope and Charity received an honorable mention in the Independent Publishers Book Awards in 2000 as well as first place for nonfiction from the Delaware Press Association.
DeSantis participated in a Children’s Services Government Information Exchange in 2002 in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. She has completed numerous medical missions to Honduras as well as a humanitarian mission to a refugee camp in Sudan in 1999.