Columbia attorney picked to lead SC’s disabilities, special needs agency
An attorney who recently moved to Columbia will become the next director of the South Carolina agency charged with overseeing services for residents with disabilities and special needs.
Michelle Gough Fry will lead the Department of Special Needs and Disabilities Commission beginning Oct. 11, the department announced Monday.
She replaces Mary Poole, the department’s former chief. Poole was fired earlier this year for how she handled a sexual harassment allegation, the commission alleged.
“We are very fortunate to have Dr. Fry directing our team at DDSN,” said Stephanie Rawlinson, chairwoman of the commission. “Her executive leadership experience will help us move the agency in the right direction and solve complex problems so that we can provide the very best services to assist all people with disabilities and special needs in our state.”
She added commissioners wanted someone who would help with long-term planning and goal setting of DDSN, which has about 1,500 employees.
“We have to look at what’s being served right now and make sure we’re maximizing those we serve and the services that we’re offering,” Rawlinson said. “We need to look at how the services are being provided and make sure they’re being optimized.”
Long-term planning will be new for DDSN, including the shift to a fee-for-service model as opposed to providers receiving lump-sum payments based on how many consumers they serve and services they offer, Rawlinson said.
Fry, who will earn $168,000 a year to run DDSN, previously served as general counsel to the Indiana State Board of Education, the Indiana Charter School Board and the Indiana Department of Education.
In 2014, former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence appointed her to serve on the Indiana Civil Rights Commission.
Fry most recently worked as the head of Legal for ELLevation, a Boston-based education technology company that provides a software platform for English language learners.
The commission’s announcement said Fry has spent most of her career advocating for equity and access for students with disabilities. She has worked with historically marginalized populations. Fry has written several publications addressing the civil rights of those with disabilities, and her dissertation addressed students with disabilities and their experiences.
“I look forward to advancing the mission of the agency by drawing upon my years of leadership experience as general counsel for three state agencies and taking the agency in a stronger, more progressive direction to better meet the needs of those we serve,” Fry said.
Fry moved to South Carolina in August with her husband, Dr. John Fry, who became the director of Interventional Cardiology at the Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg, and their four children.
Michelle Fry’s experience differs from Poole, who had worked for service providers when DDSN hired her.
When Poole came to the agency, she had previously worked as executive director at Maxabilities in York County. She also had worked as a service coordination supervisor, a residential director and a day program director at agencies around the state.
“We have a lot of people that handle the technical aspects of DDSN,” Rawlinson said. “Each division has an associate state director that knows the technical parts of this. We need someone to lead them. We need a leader. That’s what we found in Michelle Fry.”
This story was originally published September 27, 2021 at 1:33 PM.
