Member, BBI Board of Advisors, Ph.D., '81 A&S
Ed Blatt is a Senior Managing Consultant – Child Welfare, Public Health and Family Assistance in the IBM Social Services and Healthcare Center of Competence. Newly established in 2010, the Center of Competence is a global team of experts dedicated to assisting government organizations that support the most vulnerable citizens. Prior to coming to IBM, Ed was the Executive Director and chief lobbyist for the Association for Community Living — a statewide organization of 130 non-profit providers of community based residential programs for people with mental illness in New York State. During his previous fifteen year career in New York State government, he held the positions of Director of Foster Care and Director for Institutional Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention for the New York State Department of Social Services. He was also Deputy Director of Governor Mario Cuomo’s Decade of the Child program — a ten-year program to improve and coordinate children’s services in New York State. During his more than 30 years in human services, Ed has worked in programs for people with developmental disabilities, mental illness, and visual impairments; victims of child abuse and neglect; foster care families; and children waiting to be adopted.
In addition to serving on the Board of Advisors for the Burton Blatt Institute, Ed is a member of the New York State’s Citizen Review Panel for Child Protective Services. The Citizen Review Panel is comprised of citizen volunteers who are authorized by law to examine the policies, procedures and practices of the State and social services districts and, where appropriate, specific cases. The Panel evaluates the extent to which the agencies are effectively discharging their child protection responsibilities. Ed holds a doctorate in Developmental Psychology from Syracuse University.