First Place for Youth, a California organization that works with transition-age foster youth, has named former Department of Health and Human Services staffer Heidi McIntosh as its CEO.
The Oakland-based organization manages the independent living skills programs (ILSP) for San Francisco and Solano Counties, but it also has seven offices across California, a partnership with the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services and affiliation with a nonprofit provider in Massachusetts. First Place for Youth (FPFY) offers housing and case management services to transition-age foster youth and served 1,460 youth in 2017, according to its website.
McIntosh comes to FPFY from the National Association of Social Workers, where she had been serving as deputy director. Before that, she was a senior policy advisor at the Department of Health and Human Services in the Obama administration, where she worked on the National Child and Family Service Reviews (CFSRs). Previous to that, McIntosh served as deputy commissioner for the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, where she led efforts to combat the state’s response to disproportionality in its child welfare system.
“I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to work with this team to bring First Place for Youth into a new era of impact and national expansion of its life-changing programs,” McIntosh said in a press release. “I have dedicated my career to engaging with communities to support marginalized youth and families, and this is a dream opportunity to be part of the ambitious growth of an organization that is so well-regarded in the field.”
McIntosh starts at FPFY on October 15, 2018.