On June 19, the Administration for Community Living (ACL) announced additional appointments made to serve within the agency. President Trump appointed Mary Lazare to serve as ACL’s Principal Deputy Administrator. In addition, Juanita Balenger has been appointed to serve as an Advisor to the Administrator.
Lazare comes to ACL from St. Louis, Missouri, where she has most recently served as Vice President for Home- and Community-Based Services for Lutheran Senior Services. With master’s degrees in both management and gerontology and an extensive career in long-term care and community health operations, she combines hands-on program-level knowledge with strategic planning and organizational development expertise, and has led organizations in delivering quality services and advocating for the people they serve while adhering to sound stewardship principles.
Balenger’s career includes a variety of positions in government and non-profit organizations and in the legal community. As director of Virginia’s TRIAD program, she worked with local law enforcement and statewide TRIAD chapters to help older adults learn to protect themselves from abuse, including identity theft and financial exploitation. Since January, Balenger has been part of the HHS team providing policy guidance to ACL.
As Principal Deputy, Lazare will also assume the role of Acting ACL Administrator, and current Acting ACL Administrator Dan Berger will return to his regular position of Deputy Administrator for Management and Budget.
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