BIOGRAPHY OF LAURA L. NUSS
DIRECTOR
D.C. DEPARTMENT ON DISABILITY SERVICES

Laura L. Nuss was appointed Director of the Department on Disability Services (DDS) by former Mayor Adrian M. Fenty in June 2010, and has been re-appointed by Mayor Vincent C. Gray for a second term. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Nuss served as the DDS Deputy Director for the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) since August 2007 where she steadfastly focused her efforts on making positive and continuous improvements in the services and supports delivery system.

Her career began in Pennsylvania where she assisted private organizations in developing and operating community-based residential and vocational services for individuals with intellectual disabilities transitioning out of two state institutions into the community. After 15 years in the private sector, Ms. Nuss served for three years as Branch Chief for the North Carolina Developmental Disabilities Administration, responsible for the management of its DD Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver and fiscal operations. During her subsequent five-year tenure in Connecticut, Ms. Nuss began as a Regional Director and then spent four years as the state-wide Director of Strategic Leadership during which she managed quality assurance and improvement, staff development, information management and the Medicaid HCBS waiver programs. Prior to joining DDS as the Deputy Director for DDA, Ms. Nuss co-wrote the 2007 renewal of the District of Columbia’s Medicaid HCBS Waiver for Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Ms. Nuss is committed to leading the Department on Disability Services with her passion for public service on behalf of individuals with disabilities, to establishing a model service delivery system using nationwide best practices, to transparency and accountability through publicly-available performance metrics, and to working every day to improve individual outcomes.

Her personal interest in serving people with disabilities began in her childhood with her mother receiving vocational rehabilitation services and growing up with an aunt with a developmental disability, serving as her aunt’s personal representative and healthcare decision maker.

Ms. Nuss received both a Bachelor of Science in Administration of Justice and a Master of Science in Community Systems Planning and Development from the Pennsylvania State University.