Casey Family Programs is a national operating foundation whose mission is to provide, improve, and ultimately prevent the need for foster care. Dr. David Sanders leads the organization’s systems improvement work in its efforts to partner with and support state, local and tribal child welfare jurisdictions in improving outcomes for children and youth that they serve.
Career highlights
Dr. Sanders has spent his entire career in the human services field. Prior to joining Casey Family Programs, Dr. Sanders directed all operations for the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), the largest county system in the country, with about 6,000 staff serving approximately 22,000 children in care. During his tenure, the department saw its foster care population decrease while at the same time safety and stability improved.
Early in his career, Dr. Sanders worked in Minneapolis, Minn., first as a senior clinical psychologist in the Hennepin County Mental Health Center, then as chief clinical psychologist. He later became director of the Hennepin County Children, Family and Adult Services Department. For 10 years, Dr. Sanders managed the 1,450 staff of the department, which held responsibility for all state and federally mandated social services to children, families and adults.
Dr. Sanders graduated with honors from Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in clinical psychology.
Selected public service and honors
Dr. Sanders is the recipient of the 2008 Grace B. Flandreau Award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, recognizing his significant contributions to juvenile justice and child welfare. The National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrations honored Dr. Sanders in 2007 with the Peter W. Forsythe Award for Leadership in Public Child Welfare.
In 2006, Dr. Sanders was appointed to the Philadelphia Child Welfare Review Panel. The panel of national child welfare experts was created by executive order of the mayor to conduct a comprehensive review of the Department of Human Services. Dr. Sanders also served as vice president for the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators in 2005. In 2003, he received the Congressional Angels in Adoption Award, and in 2005 he received the Princeton Club of Southern California’s Service to the Community Award.