Shalonda McHenry-Sims

Shalonda McHenry-Sims earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of South Florida and has worked in various capacities within the child welfare field for over 20 years. She began her career at the Department of Children and Families in 1993 and came to Kids Central in 2004 as a Data & Information Service Manager. In 2005, she began working as a Quality Assurance Coordinator and was quickly recognized and promoted to Director of Quality Assurance in 2006. In 2007, she became the Director of Kids Central’s Independent Living Program and served as the accreditation coordinator for the agency during three successful accreditation cycles with the Council on Accreditation (COA).

Currently, Shalonda serves as the Chief of Operations, a position she has held since May 2013. As her role of COO, Shalonda oversees foster care licensing and re-licensing, child placement, permanency and post-adoption services, Diversion and family preservation services, training, independent living services, quality assurance, utilization management and Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC).