Daniel Little

Daniel joined Santa Clara County Social Services Agency in October 2017.

Daniel is an accomplished Child Welfare professional, with both state and non-profit experience. He has experience in service delivery, policy development, financial planning and oversight, evidenced-based program implementation, training, curriculum development, staff development, advocacy, data management and analysis, and collaborative partnership with federal, state, and local stakeholders.

Daniel joined the County’s SSA Department of Family and Children’s Services (DFCS) in 2017 and served as Director of DFCS since 2019. Under his leadership, Santa Clara County transitioned out of the use of group homes, work that was highlighted by national child welfare advocates. Daniel has extensive experience utilizing Structured Decision Making and was involved with SDM implementation in Kansas, Nebraska, and Santa Clara County. Daniels work on recognizing the impact of child separation and has helped shift the model of social services focus on the power of supporting and healing families while ensuring children are safe and thriving. One of Daniel’s goals has been and will continue on to reduce inequities in the system.

Daniel earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and a Masters of Social Work, both from Wichita State University.

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