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 Fernando Serrano has
served as the Administrator of the Division of Child and
Family Services (DCFS) since January 2006. He is
responsible for child protective and welfare service
delivery in rural Nevada, oversight of urban county-operated
child welfare services, children’s mental health/behavioral
health treatment and residential services in urban Nevada,
and statewide juvenile justice services, including
state-operated training centers and youth parole.
From 1983 to 1988, Fernando worked as Chief Juvenile
Probation Officer for Mineral County. Prior to becoming the
Administrator of DCFS, Fernando was Chief Juvenile Probation
Officer for Nevada’s Sixth Judicial District—Humboldt,
Lander and Pershing counties—from 1988 to 2006. During his
tenure as Chief Juvenile Probation Officer, Fernando and his
team developed, implemented, and expanded community-based
alternative education programs to enhance mental health
services, substance abuse services, parent education
programs, and correctional substance abuse programs. In
addition, Fernando and his team worked collaboratively with
the University of Nevada, Reno, Cooperative Extension to
develop and implement a juvenile court program for first
time and less serious offenders. He also supervised the
planning process and monitored the construction of the new
Leighton Hall juvenile justice complex in Winnemucca, which
included a 24-bed detention center, probation offices, and
an alternative education facility.
Awarded the 2002 University of Nevada Professional
Achievement Alumni Award for outstanding career
accomplishments, and honored as the 2000 Kiwanian of the
Year by the Winnemucca Kiwanis Club, Fernando is the
National Chairman of the Coalition for Juvenile
Justice-Ethnic and Cultural Diversity Committee, has served
as Chairman of the Nevada Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse
State Epidemiology Workgroup, Chairman of the Fall
Conference Planning Committee for the National Coalition for
Juvenile Justice, and Vice Chairman of the Grants Management
Unit Advisory Board. Since 1996, he has served as a member
of the Juvenile Justice Commission and is the former
Chairman of the Policy and Legislation Subcommittee.
Fernando has also been a member of the Kids Count Advisory
Council since 1994.
A native Nevadan, Fernando received his degree in
Social Services and Corrections from the University of
Nevada, Reno. He is a Certified Program Administrator for
the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse.
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