Vanessa Garrett-Hartley

Vanessa Garrett Harley is the Chair of the Social Services Law Group of the City of Philadelphia Law Department where she is responsible for managing and supervising the work of the solicitors in the Child Welfare Unit and the Health and Adult Services Unit. Garrett Harley and her staff provide legal advice and representation to the City's social services agencies. She joined the Child Welfare Unit in 2002 and was promoted to Chair in 2007. Prior to working in the Child Welfare Unit, she worked in the Major Trials Unit of the Claims section of the Law Department. Garrett Harley took a leave of absence from the Law Department to work at the Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS). She initially served as Deputy Commissioner of the Children and Youth Division at DHS where she was responsible for child welfare services provided to the children and families of Philadelphia in the hotline, intake, ongoing services and adoption divisions. In August of 2014, she was appointed as the Commissioner of the Philadelphia DHS, the largest child welfare agency in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Garrett Harley is a true public servant, and staunch advocate for children and families with over a decade and a half of service with the City of Philadelphia. Garrett Harley's past legal experience also includes working for the federal government, corporate counsel and private practice. She is a graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. with a dual major in Government (Public Administration) and Sociology; she received her J.D. from Temple University School of Law. She is also a 2007 graduate of the Urban League Leadership Forum.