Evelyn Jenkins
Evelyn Jenkins has been appointed by the Louisiana Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) to serve as Chair of the Monroe Region branch of the organization.
In this capacity, Jenkins will be responsible for the governance and leadership of the organization in this region which consists of twelve parishes in Northeast Louisiana.
Additionally, she will be responsible for maintaining an active and local presence of the National Association of Social Workers in the region serving on the Louisiana NASW Chapter Board of Directors.
Established in 1955, the National Association of Social Workers is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world.
NASW works to enhance the professional growth and development of its members. NASW goals are to: create and maintain professional standards for social workers, engage in competent practice, promote efforts on behalf of human well-being by methods of social action and advance sound social policies.
Jenkins’ role as chair is complementary to a role she previously held which was aimed at making sure social workers adhere to those standards, practice with competency and serve the public with integrity.
In 2008, she was appointed by the governor and served three years on the Louisiana Board of Social Work Examiners, a regulatory group which licenses social workers in Louisiana and protects the public from unauthorized, unqualified and improper practice of social work.
Jenkins has over 30 years experience as a social worker with 26 of those being at the clinical and administrative levels.
Her work experiences include independent work in home health care, mental/behavioral health, and in the child welfare field at the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). In this department she held various positions including Regional Administrator for the Baton Rouge Region and Director of Child Welfare Programs at the State level.
Jenkins, a native of Arcadia and member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., earned a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana Tech University, master of Social Work from Grambling State University with a concentration in health and mental health, and a master of public administration from Southern University.
She is a Certified Public Manager (CPM). Jenkins is an instructor and coordinator of the Title IV-E Child Welfare Program at Grambling State University. This program is a workforce development partnership between public universities with social work degrees and the Department of Children and Family Services. Selected students receive a stipend, complete an internship in DCFS and commit to work within the DCFS child welfare program upon graduation.