San Rafael, CA – Jill Francis, who has directed the Marin County Department of Child Support Services (CSS) on an interim basis for the past six months, is the choice to serve as the long-term head of that department. She will replace Keith Pepper, who retired in at the end of October, after the Marin County Board of Supervisors formally appoints her during its May 12 meeting.
“We did a nationwide search and Jill was clearly the best person for the job,” said County Administrator Matthew Hymel. “She has done a great job as the interim director and has all the qualities to maintain and enhance the excellent community service the department provides.”
Marin CSS is responsible for establishing and enforcing orders for child support and making sure children have their needs met in a secure and nurturing environment. The award-winning department has a strong reputation statewide for treating all parties with respect and for serving the community through outreach and education.
Francis was hired as the department’s assistant director in April 2010 and has served 21 years in California’s child support programs. Under Pepper’s direction, Marin CSS was recognized for being the highest performing County CSS program in the state in 2014 and has received a Top 10 award from the California Department of Child Support Services every year since 2004. During her tenure, Francis has focused on overseeing the departmental operations, staffing, training, strategic planning, and policy analysis.
“I am honored to work with such an amazing team of people and look forward to building on the standard of excellence set through Keith’s leadership,” Francis said. “I hope to expand public awareness of the child support program to ensure that all Marin County families who need our services receive them. I believe consistent and reliable child support is one of the solutions to bringing self-sufficiency to families.”
Francis, who has a bachelor’s degree in strategic management from Dominican University of California, started her career working in Lake, Mendocino and Sonoma counties and rose to the level of program specialist and team manager. She worked as a business analyst and consultant in the child support field for four years before being hired by the County of Marin in 2010.
A Petaluma resident, Francis will continue to work out of the Novato offices of Marin CSS on Rowland Way. The department has 29 employees and has an annual caseload of about 2,700. It distributed more than $12 million in court-ordered child support payments to families in 2014. In 2014 the Enhanced Court Collections division of the department also collected more than $3.2 million in delinquent court fines and fees.
Francis’ annual salary will be $155,667.