Taylor provides organizational management consulting services to public and private child welfare agencies. He focuses on seeking justice for children and families involved with child welfare systems. Taylor spent five years with the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services where he served as Deputy Commissioner for Strategy & Policy/General Counsel, February 2021−October 2021; Acting Interim Commissioner, January 2020–November 2020; Child Protection Services Chief of Staff, September 2017–January 2021.
While at the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services, Taylor spearheaded an successful and innovative initiative centered around judicial engagement to prevent family separation. Prior to this initiative, Mississippi’s foster care population peaked with more than 6,100 children in state custody. By the end of 2019, this population had been reduced to approximately 4,000 children. Mississippi’s reduction (more than 30% in two and a half years) significantly outpaced that of the national foster care population, which decreased by approximately 3% between 2017 and 2019. And, Mississippi did not experience corresponding increases in recurrence of maltreatment or reentry into foster care. This initiative focused on enhanced judicial education on outcomes, trauma and the MDCPS Practice Model and has received national attention by Casey Family Programs.
Prior to the Department of Child Protection Services, Taylor served as a Senior Law Clerk at the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Taylor holds a J.D. from the Mississippi College School of Law and a B.A. from Millsaps College in Public Management. He is admitted to the Mississippi and Florida Bar Associations.