Mia Jones
Mia serves as the Early Childhood Project Coordinator and manages the Pritzker Children’s Initiative Community Innovation grant as the Pritzker Children’s Initiative Fellow. She is responsible for joining forces with other passionate early childhood community system leaders to better coordinate services and connections that improve the outcomes of children prenatal to eight years old in her community. Part of her focus is to: Learn more about what is or is not available for families from prenatal to age 8 in Alachua County; Identify the gaps in collaboration among stakeholders; Determine community need based on community feedback and indicators; Create and managing funding opportunities and/or linking community partners/organizations to each other; and provide policy advocacy if needed based on what is learned. She brings to this position a wealth of experience in the field of social services and child welfare that spans over 20 years.
She started in child welfare with the Department of Children and Families (DCF) in 2001 as a family case manager working directly with children and families in the child protection system. She later transitioned to Intake and Placement Coordination working with children, foster parents, hospitals, treatment care providers, and group care providers. In 2004 she transitioned to a lead community based-care organization, when Florida’s child welfare system became privatized. Mia worked with this organization as their Placement Manager for over 16 years and certified as a Child Welfare Case Manager Supervisor and PRIDE Trainer. In this position she managed all activities and budget associated with child placement and caregiver support for over 250 children, over 100 licensed professional caregivers/organizations, and within 13 counties.
She prior served as a member on the Children’s Multi-Disciplinary Assessment Team with Children’s Medical Services which evaluates medically complex or fragile children for medical care services and specialized placement and was appointed by the Department of Children and Families as the social security Fee Waiver Facilitator for Florida Judicial Circuit 3 and 8. Additionally, she served as the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) Liaison which assisted with eligibility determination and waiver enrollment for qualifying children for developmental disability services who reach permanency through adoption, reunification, permanent guardianship, and/or independent living. She has served on several statewide workgroups and steering committees to improve services and outcomes for Florida children. She currently serves on North Central Florida Grade Level Reading Advisory Board, Prenatal to three National Hub Advisory for Pritzker Children’s Initiative, Early Learning Coalition (ELC) of Alachua County Quality Committee, and HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study Community Advisory Board.
Mia is a Trust-Based Relational Intervention Practitioner (TBRI) trained through Texas Christian University. She volunteers with a local non-profit as a Nurture Group Co-Facilitator and Trainer for families and children who experienced early trauma. Mia is a Rotarian with the Rotary Club of Gainesville and a member of Gainesville Modern Quilter Guild, Inc. In 2023 she was selected for the Rockwood Leadership Institute Prenatal to Three Leaders Fellowship. Mia earned her BA in Psychology from Saint Leo University and a MA in Human Resources Management from Webster University.
