Ventura County Picks Human Services Chief

Ted Myers, a former social worker who worked his way up to the top post in Ventura County’s foster care division, has been named the new director of the Human Services Agency.

Myers, 45, replaces retiring chief Barbara Fitzgerald as head of a sprawling $151-million agency that provides food, shelter and other aid to Ventura County’s poor, disabled and elderly.

Supervisors selected Myers over three other finalists, two of them in-house candidates, after closed-door interviews Wednesday. The board liked Myers’ outgoing personality and his vision for where the agency should go, Supervisor Kathy Long said.

“Ted surfaced for both his strength in management skills and his ability to inspire people,” Long said.

Myers has worked for Ventura County since 1986. He worked his way up through the ranks of the agency in front-line and supervisory positions. Fitzgerald named him director of the Department of Children and Family Services in 2001. “This is an agency with good momentum and I intend to keep that going, as well as meeting our new [financial] challenges,” Myers said.

Myers lives in Camarillo with his wife Nancy, a reading specialist, and three daughters.