Susan Neth

Ms. Neth joined the agency in 1988 as a case manager, shortly after earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work and acquiring a license as a Social Worker. She served as one of the agency’s first case managers, piloting a new, innovative outreach service to reach individuals who had not experienced success engaging in traditional office-based services. Over the course of the next three decades, she was promoted into roles which carried increased responsibility and breadth. Following the successful pilot program, she was promoted into the role of Systems Director in 1991, and earned the agency’s certification from the Ohio Department of Mental Health, negotiating contracts by which FrontLine would receive reimbursement as well as managing the agency’s administrative, fiscal, billing, and information-systems functions, and serving as the agency’s first Client Rights Officer. Ms. Neth crafted and implemented a comprehensive quality improvement plan that later became a critically important foundation for the agency’s successful expansion into residential, shelter, and crisis intervention services. She also wrote and directed the implementation of a comprehensive set of agency operational policies and procedures. Following the receipt of her Master of Science degree in Organizational Development and Analysis from Case Western Reserve University in 1993, she was named Director of Community Support and directed the creation of many of the assertive outreach, shelter and permanent supportive housing programs. She was also instrumental in the difficult task of integrating a child crisis service team from another agency into the newly-created Mobile Crisis team. As community support became just one of many services helping FrontLine’s homeless and disabled clients to achieve housing, recovery and independence, Ms. Neth became the Director of Homeless Services in 1999. In this role she created, developed and monitored a broad range of outreach, shelter, community support and housing programs, and ensured that their services were well coordinated and readily accessible to clients. In 2002, she was named Director of Community Development and led the agency’s development of the Community Women’s Shelter and a major initiative focusing and achieving the agency’s first accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. Appointed the agency’s first Chief Operating Officer in 2006, she continued her work to cultivate and nurture constructive relationships with other community service providers and led the agency’s planning and renovation of the acquisition of a 36,000 square foot physical facility to serve as the agency’s administrative and service headquarters. With this impressive scope of achievements, trust and enthusiasm of staff members and the strong relationships she has developed with many of the service providers, government officials and advocacy group, Ms. Neth leads FrontLine Service in the fulfillment of its important mission during a time of significant cultural, political and economic challenges.