Hon. Darcie Miller

Darcie Miller, LCSW-R (Licensed Clinical Social Worker), is the Commissioner at the Orange County Department of Social Services and the Orange County Department of Mental Health, a position to which she was appointed in October 2016. Prior to that, she served as the Commissioner for the Department of Mental Health for 3 years, Deputy Commissioner for seven years and has been part of the County’s mental health team for more than a decade.

As Commissioner, Ms. Miller oversees Orange County’s planning, development and coordination of services of a wide range of social welfare programs under the divisions of Human Services, Economic Independence, mental health, developmental disabilities and chemical dependency. Nearly 10,000 Orange County residents with a mental illness, developmental disability or substance abuse problems are served by the Department of Mental Health each day. The Department coordinates programs with numerous private and not-for-profit partners in the County. Commissioner Miller is passionate about infusing the system of care with trauma informed, culturally competent and recovery-oriented values, practices and administration.

Never one to shy away from a challenge or an opportunity, Commissioner Miller has had administrative responsibility for leading the development and assisting in facilitating WELCOME Orange, Orange County Court Connection Projects, serving as the Principal Investigator for the Children’s Mental Health Initiative System of Care, Mental Health Juvenile Justice Projects, supporter of Crisis Intervention Training for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, and participating in bringing evidence-based initiatives to Orange County.  She serves on many local and statewide committees. She is a member of the multi-disciplinary County Team which focuses on youth needs in the community, as well as SUNY Orange Advisory Committee, the Medical Reserve Corp and the Cultural Equity Task Force. She is a successful partner in grant writing and has played a significant role in securing funding from federal, state and private sources over the course of her career. Commissioner Miller as a member of Orange County Government’s “Team Orange” has become Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certified implementing efficient, cost-effective and exemplary government practice. She is Treasurer of the New York State Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors, Inc. (CLMHD), a member of the NYS Public Welfare Association, member of the Advisory Board of Westchester Medical Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP), founder and Chair of the Orange County Changing the Substance Abuse Ecosystem Committee (formerly the Opioid Task Force), a member of the Think Differently Committee,  a member of the Regional Planning Consortium, a co-sponsor for the Orange County Resilience Project (ACEs) and a participant in multiple cross-system stakeholder collaborations. 

Commissioner Miller received her masters degree in social work and her bachelors of science degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Prior to coming to Orange County in 2001, she served as a staff social worker and rape crisis coordinator in Niagara County, New York. In addition to holding down a very demanding position as Commissioner, Darcie and her husband James Ferraro are parents to his son, Matthew, and their daughter, Angelina and son Anthony.