On August 2, 2011, President Barack Obama nominated Nancy M. Ware to serve as the Director of the District of Columbia Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA), a large agency that supervises offenders who are on probation, parole, or supervised release. Although it is a local, District of Columbia agency, the position is subject to federal control under the District’s home rule charter. 

 

Born in 1950, Ware earned a B.A. and an M.Ed. at Howard University. Early in her career, Ware worked as a clinical psychologist for the (D.C.) Public Schools Special Education Department, director of the Paul Robeson Psychoeducational School for emotionally disturbed children, and chief of emergency mental health services and outreach for children in the

District of Columbia.

 

She was also Executive Director of the District of Columbia Mayor’s Youth Initiatives Office under Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly, Executive Director of the Citizenship Education Fund and executive director of the Rainbow Coalition.

 

Her work in the criminal justice field began when she served as the Director of Program Development for the Bureau of Justice Assistance in the Office of Justice Programs, after which she became Director of Technical Assistance and Training for the Department of Justice Executive Office for Weed and Seed, where she was responsible for helping local communities implement plans to fight crime and promote public safety. 

 

From 2002 to 2010, Ware served as the Executive Director for the District of Columbia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, an independent agency established by Congress, whose members include the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, the D.C. police chief and other city officials, the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the chairman of the U.S. Parole Commission. She developed the infrastructure to support law enforcement, juvenile justice, and other criminal justice branches. 

 

In 2010, Ware joined CSOSA as a management analyst and wrote its five-year strategic plan mandated by federal law.   

 

According to the OpenSecrets website, Ware once contributed $250 to the Congressional campaign Jesse Jackson, Jr., who is the son of her former employer, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., who founded the Rainbow Coalition in 1984. 

- Matt Bewig

 

Howard Alum tapped by Obama to head CSOSA (by Reginald Johnson, Washington Examiner)