Tracy L. Wareing is the Executive Director of American Public Human Services Association (APHSA), a bipartisan, nonprofit membership organization representing the state and local human service agencies through their top-level leadership. APHSA houses nine affiliate organizations, whose members administer program-level and system-support operations in the states. Building on the expertise and experience of the APHSA membership, Wareing is leading the Association's efforts to drive transformation of the health and human services system to a more sustainable path that is both effective and cost efficient. Wareing was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Children and Families, and is a strong advocate for strengthening public-private partnerships in order to advance the collective impact of both sectors on the human services field.
Wareing has a long history in high-level policy development and public administration. Prior to joining APHSA, Wareing served as a senior adviser to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Before moving to Washington D.C. in 2009, Wareing lived in Arizona and served as Director of the Arizona Department of Economic Security, an integrated human service agency. In that role, she oversaw protective services for children and adults; cash assistance and supplemental nutrition assistance; Medicaid eligibility determinations; workforce and employment supports; unemployment insurance; aging and adult services as well as child care and child support enforcement. Prior to her cabinet appointment, she served as policy adviser for human services under then Arizona Gov. Napolitano and as interim deputy director of the state's child welfare division. She has also served as the lead counsel in the Arizona Attorney General's office representing child protective services. Wareing began her career in private practice at the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, LLP in Phoenix.