Darlene Baad (MSW, LSW) (she/her) has dedicated her career to supporting youth and families navigating the child welfare system across the state of Ohio for over 20 years. Presently, she serves as the Vice President of Child Welfare Services at The Buckeye Ranch, where she oversees the Foster Care, Transitional Aged Youth, and Permanent Family Solutions Network programs, leading teams that make a life-changing impact for thousands of youth and families across our state each year. Darlene has been raising hope and providing healing at The Buckeye Ranch since April of 2023. Prior to her role as Vice President of Child Welfare Services, she served as Associate Director, Permanent Family Solutions Network, and Director, Shared Services.
Before her time at The Buckeye Ranch, she served in a variety of roles, from caseworker, supervisor, and eventually Director of Protective Services for Summit County Children Services, where she oversaw a department of nearly eighty staff responsible for servicing over six hundred families annually. After her time with Summit County Children Services, she served as the Child and Adult Protective Service Administrator for Portage County Department of Job and Family Services.
In addition to her work in child welfare, she has also worked as a field liaison and adjunct lecturer at the University of Akron, specializing in family systems as well as poverty and minority issues. In 2013, she joined the Institute for Human Services as a coach, with a passion for supporting child welfare caseworkers and supervisors in areas of professional development, performance improvement, conflict management, and leadership.
Darlene holds an associate’s degree in human and social service technology from Stark Sate College of Technology, a bachelor’s degree in social work from The University of Akron, and a master’s degree in social work from The University of Akron. In her free time, Darlene enjoys watching true crime documentaries, gardening, and campfires. She also loves spending time with her daughter, Niaha, and wild goldendoodle, Sir Lincoln Charcoal aka Coal.