Her Story
About Jennifer
Jennifer Mongi, LCSW, C-CSOTS is a seasoned behavioral health and child welfare leader with nearly three decades of experience advancing trauma-informed care, foster care, and family-centered services. As Senior Director of Programs overseeing Community Programs for CHOR and Affinity, and Founder of Velocity Counseling Services, LLC, she provides strategic leadership that strengthens clinical programs, supports vulnerable children and families, and expands access to high-quality mental health services. Jennifer’s passion for this work is deeply personal, inspired by her own lived experience in foster care, which has fueled a lifelong commitment to helping children and families heal, thrive, and remain connected whenever possible.
Throughout her career, Jennifer has been instrumental in developing innovative programs that improve outcomes for at-risk youth and strengthen foster care systems. More than 25 years ago, she helped establish a specialized foster care program designed to provide family-based alternatives for adolescents with complex behavioral and delinquency-related needs, allowing them to receive care in supportive home environments rather than residential settings. Her expertise spans trauma-informed care, program development, parent education, crisis intervention, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and direct clinical practice. She is widely recognized for her ability to build collaborative programs that empower families while navigating complex child welfare and behavioral health systems.
Jennifer holds a Master of Social Work from Marywood University and is a Certified Clinical Sex Offender Treatment Specialist (C-CSOTS), with additional specialized training in trauma-informed care. A passionate advocate for foster youth, child abuse prevention, and community-based behavioral health, she is dedicated to equipping caregivers, professionals, and organizations with the tools needed to promote resilience, healing, and long-term family stability. Through both her executive leadership and clinical practice, Jennifer continues to champion compassionate, evidence-based solutions that create lasting impact for children, families, and communities.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jennifer
01What do you attribute your success to?
My success comes from my lived experience in foster care and the resilience built from protective factors like grandparents who cared for us, which helped me avoid a victim stance and become a doer who takes on challenges.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
You can't take the easy way out or lead with your ego because it might not be best for the people you're helping. You have to jump in and do the work, be open-minded, listen to people, understand what you don't know, and learn from others.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
It's important to build a network, collaborate, find a mentor, and provide opportunities for others to learn and grow so they can become future leaders. I lead a team and want them to grow rather than taking all the credit myself.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Human services is not well-funded and not seen as a public priority, which makes navigating systems difficult, but you have to have perseverance and look for opportunities in the challenges.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being genuine, honest, and kind. Being truthful and meeting people where they're at, while being respectful even when you don't see eye-to-eye.
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