Shirley K. Brown, M.A., J.D.
Administrator

Child and Family Services Division
Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services
CFSD
P.O. Box 8005
Helena, MT 59604

Montana

Shirley K. Brown has served as the Administrator of the Child and Family Services Division (CFSD) of Montana's Department of Public Health and Human Services since December 2002. The Child and Family Services Division provides State and Federally-mandated protective services to children who are or are at risk of being abused, neglected, or abandoned. Ms. Brown has served in many positions in the area of child protective services, including district supervisor, regional administrator, and division administrator under the former Department of Family Services, and Program Bureau Chief for the Child and Family Services Division.

Ms. Brown began with Child Protective Services in northeast Montana in 1981. She came from outside the system, with no previous child protective services experience. From the start, she understood the importance of foster families to the children to whom the agency provides services. Ms. Brown began by visiting all of the foster families in her five county district. The system has experienced many changes since 1981 but an unalterable fact continues to be the significant contribution made by resource families who provide homes to Montana's most vulnerable children.

Ms. Brown has baccalaureate and master's degrees in sociology from the University of South Dakota. She also holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Montana's School of Law.