District 3 profile: Carol Miller

Learn more about how Hennepin County works for you.

The District 3 team conducts a profile series with employees of the county who live in the district. Each month we spotlight a different person from varying departments and occupations. Find out about the day-to-day aspects of occupational fields and work environments at the county, and how each person’s work affects your life.

Carol Miller Kingfield Neighborhood, Minneapolis Area manager, Human services

Describe your work.

I am an Area Manager within Human Services and Public Health. I came to work for Hennepin County with a background in both social work and early childhood development. I have served in many capacities, as a social worker, supervisor and manager, but all touched the lives of young children and their families in some way.

I was fortunate to study at the University of Minnesota when some of the original groundbreaking research was being done on the impacts of early childhood experiences on young children’s development including their mental health and school readiness. I have been able to apply that expanding field of knowledge to our work in foster care, child care, services to young children with disabilities, and services for young families involved many of our programs. Most recently I have worked on special county initiatives to improve outcomes for young children receiving our services and on state policy and legislation with similar goals.

What part of your job do you find most challenging?

I like to remove barriers for children and families so that they can be successful. I find my work the most challenging when I am trying to do that and hit a wall. Often the challenge is a mismatch between the rules around the services/resources available and the specifics of the child or family. I often get calls from colleagues searching for a solution and when I can’t help them find one I am always disappointed. On the flip side those challenges are often springboards to propose changes to county programs or state legislation.

I can use families’ stories to illustrate the barriers and can work to remove those barriers for other families and children. Sometimes that is through changing how we manage our county work and resources, and sometimes it means positive change to state law or policy.

What do you find most enjoyable?

I like to solve problems that affect the long term prospects for all young children to thrive. That can mean addressing how we use available resources and programs at the county level or it may lead to work with the Minnesota Legislature, including advocating for new statutes. In each case, groups of people who touch different aspects of the issue can be brought together to solve problems and remove barriers to child and family success. I love the opportunity to learn all aspects of a challenge and then to work with others to formulate a solution.

What is one thing everyone should know about the work you do?

This work is important to the future health of our citizenry. If our community can assure healthy early development and school readiness for all of our youngest residents, we are much more likely to have a well-prepared workforce in the future. Mental health starts early, brain development for learning starts very early, and school success is built on what happens during the first five years. If we can support our youngest, they can thrive and contribute to the success of our communities when they are grown.