By Mitierra Johnson, Research Associate
Growing up in Raleigh, Keandra Cofield Operations Manager at North Carolina Health and Human Services aspired to work in the community to help improve the lives of children. Over time, those opportunities to impact the lives of children grew in many ways and gave her unique experiences in serving communities.
After obtaining her Bachelor of Science in Family and Community Services from East Carolina University, Keandra later earned her Master of Business Administration, with a specialty in Healthcare Administration from Capella University. About a year after graduating, she started working with the Wake County Health and Human Services in the Family Child Division. This position helped her enhance her passion to improve the lives of children, starting with case management for children with questionable welfare reports. Keandra worked to fill in gaps for children’s needs that would help improve their lives outside the welfare system.
Continuing her focus on children, she worked for three years with the agency Strategic Behavior of Health, where she worked closely with kids who had mental health issues. In this daunting job, she managed a long-term care program with a caseload of 30 to 40 boys, managing their treatment from admittance to discharge. Soon after, she began working at the Division of Mental Health as a program consultant for the Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility program (PRTF) where she managed state-allotted funds with the needs of local psychiatric facilities in North Carolina.
“One of the biggest challenges about working in children’s mental health is that you don’t see the outcomes as fast,” she reflects.
Keandra continues her devotion to children’s health in her current job as Operations Manager for the NC Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (NC CLPPP), overseeing the budgets of the Program’s funding for varied lead-related projects, including the multi-million-dollar American Rescue Plan project to address lead and asbestos in schools. She ensures that regional environmental health specialists have appropriate supplies for childhood lead investigations, child care sanitation assessments, and other field duties. In fact, she notes that she enjoys building new relationships with local and state partners in the NC Lead & Healthy Homes Outreach Task Force meetings.
“The most exciting part of my job,” she adds, “is being able to make a positive impact on children’s health and learning through my work with local and state partners.”
In March 2023, she started her own business called the Intentional Doula to help new young families. She is a postpartum doula and helps the families once they come home. She is there to help bridge the gaps of emotional and medical needs. Her goal is to make the bonding experience as comfortable as possible. In the future, she hopes to continue to grow her business and adding more services for families.
Keandra’s experiences with families and children with special needs has strengthened her with work in the NC CLPPP. In turn, NCLPPP has given her an insight into how the environment can affect children, and it allows her to bring a unique perspective and empathy into her work as a doula. When she is not working, Keandra enjoys baking and boxing.