def #25 02/18/09
JILL PEREZ TO HEAD STATE HUMAN SERVICES ASSOCIATION
TOMS RIVER – Jill Perez, who has worked for the Ocean County Human Services Department since 1991 and serves as
its director since 2006, has been named president of the State Association of Human Services Directors.
“Jill is the consummate professional and takes her roll as director of Human Services for Ocean County very seriously,”
said Ocean County Freeholder Gerry P. Little, who serves as liaison to Human Services. “She brings compassion and concern
to the position at the county and I know she will do the same as president of the state association.”
Perez has served as secretary for the state association since 2007.
The state association acts as a clearinghouse for human services directors throughout the state providing information,
education and advocacy.
Perez noted that financial and budgetary matters affecting human services are key issues on the association’s agenda for
this year.
“We work as a group to let the state and federal governments know our concerns and our needs and we advocate for them,”
Perez said.
She noted that as county human services directors, the group is concerned about the shifting of costs from federal and
state agencies to counties.
“We, as an organization, will take a position on an issue so we can be represented by one voice,” she said.
As director of Human Services in Ocean County, Perez oversees divisions including the Human Services Advisory
Council, the Workforce Investment Board, the Office for the Disabled, the Commission on the Status of Women, and the
Mental Health Board.
“Human Services is a very complex area of government dealing with agencies on the local, state and federal levels,”
Little said. “Her focus is on organizing and implementing community programs regarding current social issues.”
Perez is a certified social worker by the New Jersey State Board of Social Work Examiners. She is a graduate of the
University of North Texas.
Perez and her husband David are the parents of two adult children, Gabriel and Lydia, both of whom are serving in
the military.
