Department of Child Support Services Manager Charley Jones

Janelle Mora, CA DCSS

Charley Jones is constantly on the move, whether keeping the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) system running or outdoors preparing for marathons. Charley began working for the State of California back in 1991 and started working for Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) in 2003 as a Systems Software Specialist II.

Advancing his work in the Technology Services Division, Charley has since promoted to a Data Processing Manager III overseeing infrastructure hardware and software environments for the CSE system. On top of managing these environments, he is also assisting the CSE system migration to a Cloud-based infrastructure, which will be the most cost-effective and secure infrastructure DCSS has ever had. Additionally, Charley is overseeing the implementation of new software development with the Agile-based approach which advocates adaptive planning, continuous improvement, and encourages flexible, rapid response to change.

Charley grew up playing sports. As an athlete, running for conditioning purposes has been a part of Charley’s life for quite some time, however, he truly committed to running in 2000 when he ran his first long-distance race, the California International Marathon. As if running marathons year after year since then wasn’t impressive enough, in 2005 Charley began running ultramarathons, races that exceed 26.2 miles.

On the last weekend of June of this year, Charley completed the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run in Squaw Valley for the tenth time. The race began at 5:00 a.m. on Saturday and ended the next day, with qualifiers finishing no later than 11:00 a.m. that Sunday morning. Charley stated that competing in the world’s oldest 100-mile trail race is always his highlight event of the year, competing with 368 other runners, the maximum amount allowed by law. After six months of preparing and training, Charley finished in the top 50 percent, completing the run in 28 hours and 28 minutes. Before crossing the finish line, the route climbed more than 18,000 feet and descended nearly 23,000 feet in elevation.

Counting his most recent race, Charley has run more than 120 ultramarathons and approximately 25 regular marathons.

“Running the Western States Endurance Run has been a paramount challenge and it’s the challenge that has made preparing and running the event so enjoyable,” Charley says. “The challenge combined with the amazing people in the running community has made this such a rewarding experience over the years.”