Cindy Freeman Email & Phone Number

Windsor Mill, Maryland, United States

I lead an agency whose mission is to support adults and youth with disabilities to live their best life. My goal is to develop staff who can help each person discover what is meaningful for them while connecting people to their communities. I am responsible for the direction of all resources and activities that achieve the mission of inclusion, and add value to the lives of people supported by the agency and their families.

Silver Spring, Md

• Led a department that has operated in a facility-based environment to move into meaningful community-based supports with a focus on paid employment as the primary outcome• Directed a department with a staff of approximately 100 and a 7.5 million dollar budget which provided employment and day supports to over 400 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities • Developed, implemented, and managed a comprehensive set of support services for adults with disabilities• Managed an operation of federal, state and local service contracts to include development of contract proposals, ensuring compliance with federal and state contract mandates, fiscal management and monitoring quality of service delivery.• Supervised management staff who oversee daily operations of Supported Employment and Day programming.

Frederick, Md

• Provided technical assistance in the areas of program certification, assessment and job development processes to increase program outcomes.

Bowie, Md

• Directly connected with businesses to identify hiring needs within Prince George's County • Negotiated with businesses to conduct interviews resulting in paid jobs for individuals with significant disabilities

• Established a Workforce Development department within a local Goodwill to support a diverse set of individuals in the community to obtain and retain employment. As a result, people with disabilities and other barriers to employment had access to quality job placement and training services within their community• Provided leadership to support the conversion of a sheltered workshop vocational program into a person-centered, community-based, Supported Employment service model that resulted in integrated employment for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities• Created a variety of job placement programs for a small provider agency by adapting best practices from larger program service models• Focused service delivery on the individualized needs of people looking for work to ensure high job placement and retention rates • Launched business development service component to ensure the hiring needs of businesses in the community were being met when linking job seekers to job openings• Developed new partnerships with a variety of nonprofit and government agencies to ensure community access to Goodwill employment resources and participant access to community resources• Composed a variety of grant proposals for state and local entities and managed implementation of all programs that received funding• Collected data for programming to analyze outcomes and make improvements as appropriate• Developed and managed an annual budget of 1.5 million dollars including government, foundation, nonprofit and retail funded programming• Actively participated in Employment First work group and Organizational Change forums led by State of Maryland Developmental Disabilities Administration and the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council

Baltimore, Maryland Area

• Generated creative ideas as a member of the senior team that developed new system approaches in the transition to welfare-to-work programming in Baltimore City Department of Social Services (BCDSS) during the implementation of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) legislation. As a result, recipients of cash assistance had access to new opportunities for job readiness training and employment.• Provided direction and support to the Baltimore City Department of Social Services (BCDSS) Southwest Family Investment (FI) Centers that contributed to Southwest being awarded Center of the Year for 2002• Led the implementation of the BCDSS Mount Clare Demonstration Project that piloted state employees providing on-site life skills/job readiness workshops and a job search program for Temporary Cash Assistance applicants• Partnered with the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development’s staff to pilot utilizing Workforce Investment Act (WIA) services and One-Stop centers to supplement job readiness programming• Led the development of a pilot program with Baltimore Mental Health Systems to utilize mental health specialists to screen recipients of cash assistance for mental health services • Participated in statewide and local work groups to develop strategies to meet federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) participation rate requirements in BCDSS• Assisted with the development of the $22 million dollar BCDSS TANF budget

Baltimore, Maryland Area

• Developed contract management/monitoring procedures for the BCDSS FI Bureau • Analyzed BCDSS welfare-to-work program results to improve performance and meet federal and state requirements • Developed an organizational structure for the contracts division in order to maximize the efficient operation of each contract• Supervised Contract Specialists who monitored individual contract performance and outcomes

Mpa, Public Administration

Ba, Political Science

Ba, Political Science

High School