Brooke A Trent

Brooke Trent, a proud bureaucrat who directed government social service and human rights programs for the city, state and federal governments, died on August 15, 2022.

While many despair at what they see as the inability of government to provide adequate services for people in need, she was a passionate believer that we had an obligation to create a government concerned with the right of all people to a secure and happy life. She proved that with clear and consistent policies, well-trained staff and adequate funding, government programs improve the lives of the children and families for whom they are intended.

Over her long and distinguished career in public service Brooke developed a wide array of programs improving lives everywhere. Among the agencies she served were the NYC Commission on Human Rights and the US Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, directing management and planning in both agencies for Eleanor Holmes Norton. She was the Assistant Commissioner for Facilities at the NYC Dept General Services and Deputy Commissioner of the NYS Dept Social Services.

In 1987, with the city facing a crack epidemic and an unprecedented need for foster care, Mayor Ed Koch appointed Brooke Trent Commissioner of the Child Welfare Administration. Complaints of drug and child abuse and the staggering number of addicted babies, or babies born to crack-addicted mothers were overwhelming the system. The foster care population need for beds skyrocketed from 20,000 to 50,000. Under Brooke's leadership the agency implemented a series of management and accountability systems and techniques resulting in more effective service, reduced caseload, improved resource allocation and opened up the needed beds for the children. Brooke created the James Satterwhite Academy that continues to provide training for child welfare managers.

Smith College, 1957, American Society of African Culture and desegregating schools in Georgia in the 1960's, Brooke laid the foundation to her professional career early on and never stopped finding ways to serve communities she loved so dearly - those in need. Her charities include HRC: https://www.thehrcfoundation.org/support, SPLC: https://www.splcenter.org/ and the Community Foundation of Western MA that she helped grow from infancy: https://communityfoundation.org/

Former runner and fundraiser for Susan G. Komen, lover of nature, shore bird watching, female author reading, she is survived by tens of thousands of adults who had a foster care bed when they needed it most, former employees whose experience inside bureaucracies was extraordinary, numerous friends and by her wife, Karen M. Kee.