Friends Association for Care and Protection of Children's CEO, Jennifer Lopez, will depart the agency to spend time with her granddaughter and focus on her service as a commissioner at the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, where she serves as chair of the Mental Health and Justice Advisory Committee.

Lopez and the team she built accomplished significant organizational advancement since January 2019, when Lopez took the helm at Friends Association. Their efforts included establishing the county's Eviction Prevention Case Resolution Program, starting a safe home for women impacted by incarceration, and ensuring the continuation of the agency's Family Center by securing over $1 million for a renovation using trauma-informed design. The newly renovated Family Center provides temporary housing for up to six families at a time and seeks to ensure their safe transition to permanent housing. During her tenure, she increased the number of families served by the agency from 92 in her first year to 637 this year.

Lopez was instrumental in securing awards and grants from local and national industry leaders such as the United Way of Chester County, the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, and A New Way of Life (Safe Housing).

The board of directors has named chief operating officer Robin Senss as acting director. The board has formed a search committee and has engaged a consulting firm to assist in searching for Friends' next executive director.

To learn more about Friends Association, visit http://www.friendsassoc.org.