Human Services Department

Meet the Director

DORIS "COOKIE” PALACIOS

Doris “Cookie” Palacios attended Hampton Institute and obtained a degree in Sociology, with a Psychology minor. She continued her education at Temple University in Philadelphia and the University of Pittsburgh, graduating with a Master’s Degree in Social Work Administration with a specialization in Epidemiology and Public Health Management. She was selected as the University of Pittsburgh’s Scholar for Social Work practice. “Cookie” subsequently attended the Institute for Real Estate Management and received her Certified Property Management License in 1988.

“Cookie” began her career as a Child Protective Social Worker in Columbus, Georgia and Newport News, Virginia from 1968-1971. She became the Deputy Director of Social Services for the Philadelphia Housing Authority from 1971-1976. “Cookie” joined the YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh in 1977 and became Director of the YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh’s Downtown Center. She subsequently became a Housing Management Intern for the Pittsburgh Area HUD office in 1980 and was promoted in 1982 to the position of Western Pennsylvania Housing Management Representative for the Pennsylvania State Housing Finance Agency. In 1988 she became Vice President of Housing for the Citywide Development Corporation in Dayton, Ohio. “Cookie” competed in a national competition and won the coveted Grace Dodge National Fellowship Award for Social Work Practice. She was also selected for Operation Crossroads Africa, Inc., where she lived and worked in West Africa for five months. While there she helped construct a community center in a small village near Liberia, West Africa and served as a village teacher.

In September 1996, Doris “Cookie” Palacios came to the City of Chesapeake as the Director of Human Services. Programs for the department include Social Services, the Chesapeake Juvenile Services, and the Interagency Consortium, which is located at Juvenile Court. Cookie serves on numerous Boards and Commissions and provides her expertise to many organizations and groups within the Hampton Roads region.

“Cookie” and her husband are active members of the Hampton Roads Church of Christ. She has a daughter, son-in-law and two precious grandchildren who reside in Chesapeake.