Ann Flagg, Director of APHSA’s Collaborative Centers for Policy and Practice, joined APHSA in October 2017, overseeing APHSA’s policy and practice improvement work in child welfare, child care, economic assistance, workforce and family supporting systems.  Ann is the lead policy and liaison with both the Administration and APHSA’s membership on child welfare issues, including implementation of child welfare finance reform.  Ann also provides leadership sponsorship of the National Association of Child Welfare Administrators, an APHSA affinity group representing state and local child welfare administrators in their collective policy and practice work.  Prior to joining APHSA, Ann served in a variety of leadership positions in the Maryland Department of Human Services, providing leadership and process improvement support to the state’s child welfare, economic and emergency assistance, and child support programs, including implementation of high-profile initiatives such as the Affordable Care Act and Title IV-E waiver implementation.  Ann also brings more than 10 years of management, program design, performance management, and external affairs in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, including 3 years of experience implementing performance management systems in child welfare direct service provider. Ann has an undergraduate degree in sociology from Towson University and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Baltimore.