Jeff Katz is a nationally recognized
expert on issues of adoption and foster care. He has
led workshops at national conferences, testified
before Congress, and participated in adoption programs
at the White House. His op-ed pieces have been
published in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, San
Diego Union-Tribune, Minneapolis Star Tribune,
Christian Science Monitor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
Providence Journal, and many other publications. He
recently began blogging for the Huffington Post.
Jeff was the Executive Director of
Adoption Rhode Island, an agency that recruits
families to adopt children from Rhode Island’s child
welfare system, for ten years. In that role, he played
a leadership role in several important adoption
initiatives, on both a state and federal level. On a
state level, he organized a successful campaign to
rewrite Rhode Island’s laws on termination of parental
rights. In 1996, Jeff worked closely with leaders in
Rhode Island to organize “Families First,” a unique
public-private partnership of leaders in government,
business, human services and private philanthropy --
all working together to promote the adoption of
children from foster care.
The Families First Leadership fr. left to
right- Alan Hassenfeld, CEO of Hasbro Toys, Governor and
Mrs. Lincoln Almond, Dave Thomas of Wendys Restaurants, Dan
Barry Adoption Rhode Island Board President, and Jeff
Katz
On
a national level, Jeff played a leadership role in
several important campaigns. In 1995, he worked with
national child welfare leaders in the campaign to
prevent “block granting” of adoption and foster care,
working closely with Senator John Chafee of Rhode
Island, who cast the deciding vote that prevented the
Senate from passing block grant legislation. In 1997,
he worked closely with national adoption leaders and
Senator Chafee to pass the Adoption and Safe Families
Act, landmark reform based, in part, on Rhode Island’s
reforms. In 1998, Jeff helped prevent passage of a
regressive adoption tax credit that would have
benefited affluent parents adopting babies at the
expense of older, harder to place children.
Jeff Katz with First Lady Hillary Clinton
at the White House
Jeff has served on the Board of Directors or Advisory Board
of several national organizations including the National
Adoption Center, the Adoption Exchange Association, and the
Adoption Resource Exchange for Single Parents. In 1996,
Jeff received an “Adoption Activist” award from the North
American Council on Adoptable Children.
Jeff attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at
Harvard University, where he was a Public Service Fellow
and received a Masters Degree in Public Administration.
After completing his Masters at Harvard, Jeff served as a
Fellow at the Kennedy School, where he developed the
Listening to Parents Project. He also holds a Masters
Degree in Social Work from Boston University.
