Moira Weir, named director of Hamilton County’s Department of Job and Family Services in 2007, immediately embarked on a series of reforms to make the department more accessible and accountable, as well as responsive and open to the public. “We must earn the public’s trust by being open about our actions, accountable for our decisions and responsive to their concerns,” she said.
Her tenure has been marked by collaboration. Her vision is for Hamilton County’s Department of Job and Family Services to be the center of a collaborative effort that draws together and leads social service agencies, businesses, governments, families and other community stakeholders to tackle the community’s toughest social problems, such as poverty and child abuse.
Weir has worked her way up from being Children’s Services line worker, a position she accepted when she joined the Department in 1993. She’s since tackled a series of positions of increasing responsibility within Children’s Services, including leading the division from 2005 to 2007. Her passion to help children began early in her adult life, when she became a Big Sister to a foster child for more than 10 years.
Earlier in her HCJFS career, she played a key role in launching a strategic business unit that managed many of the department’s social service programs and focused on putting public assistance recipients to work. From 2004-2006, she served as the assistant director over the Child Support Division, some of this service occurring at the same time she led the agency’s Children’s Services Division.
She now leads a department with a $1.3 billion annual budget that is responsible for local child protection, elder protection, child care, child support enforcement, workforce development, cash assistance, food stamp disbursement and Medicaid disbursement. Weir’s philosophy is to deliver cost-effective services in a compassionate, caring and non-judgmental manner.
Prior to joining the Job and Family Services Department, she had a five-year real estate career in Philadelphia. Weir has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Boston’s Simmons College, a master’s degree in Social Work from Bryn Mawr College and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Thomas More College.
Weir is a member of the Leadership Cincinnati Class XXVII; was selected in 2009 as a finalist by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber for Social Media Innovator of the Year ; and was selected in 2012 as a finalist for the ATHENA Award, presented by Cincy Magazine.
HCJFS Director's Blog 