Kimberly Somaroo-Rodriguez has been with the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) for 24 years. Her career began in direct services in the areas of Child Protection, Mental health and Voluntary services. Later Mrs. Somaroo-Rodriguez expanded into administrative roles such as a supervisor within the bureau of Quality Improvement. There she was instrumental in the implementation of the agency’s compliance with the court mandated 22 Outcome measures set forth in the Juan F. Consent Decree. Mrs. Somaroo-Rodriguez was later promoted to Program Supervisor 2006 providing managerial oversight of the statewide Supportive Housing for Families Program (SHF) program. This nationally recognized program provides child welfare reunification/preservation services with permanent housing solutions. Mrs. Somaroo-Rodriguez passion for housing and homelessness prevention has helped DCF develop partnerships with several non-profit housing advocacy groups such as is the Reaching Home Campaign, Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness and the Corporation for Supportive Housing. She also is the DCF representative on the CT State’s Inter-Agency Committee on Supportive Housing Next Steps Initiative that provides support to housing developments across the state for homeless adults, youth and families. In October 2009, she established the CT Family Unification Program (FUP) Voucher Taskforce to apply and receive federal housing vouchers for DCF families and youth aging out of foster care, which resulted in over 200 new FUP vouchers equaling millions of dollars in federal housing assistance. In 2012, Mrs. Somaroo-Rodriguez helped DCF receive $5 million in a five-year federal grant initiative for DCF involved homeless families. Mrs. Somaroo-Rodriguez work has also included program oversight of Child First an in-home program that heals families from the effects of trauma and abuse. She is also the Chairperson of the Parents with Differing Cognitive Abilities Workgroup, a state-wide partnership among private and public agencies to advocate, educate, and provide resources to professionals working with parents of all types of cognitive abilities.
Residing in Ellington and with her husband and two daughters, Mrs. Somaroo-Rodriguez became interested in the attainment of homeownership for all individuals and families regardless of income, race, or financial barriers. In 2022, Mrs. Somaroo-Rodriguez became a part-time Real Estate Agent for Sentry Real Estate Services.