Leadership Team

Leaders in Compassionate Child Welfare Services

Meet the members of Kid Central’s leadership team by reading the bios below. You’ll discover a tremendous group of child-welfare experts dedicated to serving our area with the very best community-based care services possible.

Cynthia A. Schuler, CEO

Cynthia A. Schuler, Esq. has spent more than 20 years in various aspects of child welfare related practice and service. Her experience as an attorney includes developing, implementing and providing conflict resolution services for child protection, family, contract and employment disputes. In addition, she spent ten years as a magistrate in juvenile and domestic courts. For the past eight years Ms. Shuler has managed programs with statutory implications for public and non-profit social service agencies. She is presently employed as the CEO of Kids Central, Inc. in Ocala , Fl. Prior to joining Kids Central, Ms. Schuler served as a District Administrator with the FL Department of Children and Families and was the Director of Community Service and Legal Counsel for St. Aloysius Orphanage, in Cincinnati , OH.

 

John Aitken, CFO

John Aitken, Chief Financial Officer, is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in Florida. He has more than 15 years experience in accounting and financial management. Prior to joining Kids Central, Mr. Aitken worked in the health care industry as a Controller and a Finance Director and was responsible for all aspects of financial management, planning, reporting and analysis.

 

 Genet Stewart

Genet holds a masters degree in Counseling Psychology and has been in child welfare for 12 years. Genet started with Kids Central in 2004 and has worked in Operations for 8 years. She was previously the Director of Permanency and prior to that the Director of Out of Home Care. Genet was instrumental in reducing the costs of licensed care and is passionate about helping families. Genet is a huge advocate for Kids Central’s mission and vision and will be drawing from all of her past experiences to meet the challenges of this challenging position.

 

Shalonda McHenry-Sims

Shalonda McHenry-Sims has a BA in Psychology from the University of South Florida and has worked in various capacities within the child welfare field for almost 20 years.  She began her career at the Department of Children and Families in 1993 and came to Kids Central in 2004 as a Data & Information Service Manager.   In 2005, she began working as a Quality Assurance Coordinator and was quickly recognized and promoted to Director of Quality Assurance in 2006.  In 2007 she became the Director of Kids Central’s Independent Living Program and served as the accreditation coordinator for the agency during two successful accreditation cycles with the Council on Accreditation (COA).  Currently, Shalonda serves as the Chief of Quality and Utilization Management, a position she has held since September 2011.