Jennifer Zelenka, CSC Docket No. 2025-1390
NJ Civil Service Commission decision of January 21, 2026, CSC Docket No. 2025-1390: working test period, penalty upheld. Jennifer Zelenka, a former Family Service Specialist 2 with the Department of Children and Families, appeals her release at the end of the working test period effective December 1
Commission decisions · Meeting of January 21, 2026
Jennifer Zelenka, a former Family Service Specialist 2 with the Department of Children and Families, appeals her release at the end of the working test period effective December 15, 2024.
- Matter
- Working test period
- Decided
- January 21, 2026, item A-6
- Outcome
- Penalty upheld
- ALJ's recommendation
- Uphold the release at the end of the working test period.
- What the Commission did with it
- Adopted the ALJ's recommendation
- Employer
- Children and Families
- Chair at the time
- Allison Chris Myers, Acting Chairperson
- Official decision
- CSC's PDF
Action recorded in the minutes: The Civil Service Commission affirmed the recommendation of the Administrative Law Judge.
The decision
CSC published this decision as a scanned image. The text below was recognized by OCR, read twice and checked against the meeting minutes, but OCR can misread a word. The official document is the record.
BackgroundThe appeal of Jennifer Zelenka, a Family Service Specialist 2 with the Department of Children and Families (DCF), of her release at the end of the working test period, effective December 15, 2024, was heard by Administrative Law Judge Advia Knight Foster (ALJ), who rendered her initia] decision on December 8, 2025. No exceptions were filed.
AnalysisHaving considered the record and the ALJ’s initial decision, and having made an independent evaluation of the record, the Civil Service Commission (Commission), at its meeting on January 21, 2026, accepted and adopted the ALJ’s Findings of Facts and Conclusions and her recommendation to uphold the release of the appellant at the end of the working test period.
The Commission makes the following comments. The ALJ found credible evidence showing, among other things, that the appellant failed to make timely service referrals following court hearings which resulted in significant delays; failed to complete tasks resulting in a supervisor performing the tasks herself; rescheduled required training unbeknownst to her supervisor; and failed to shadow a designated employee and chose her own employee to shadow contrary to her supervisor's instructions. Regarding the ALJ’s finding that the appellant did not satisfy her burden of proof that the release at the end of the working test period was not effectuated in good faith, the ALJ stated that “DCF, including Zelenka’s supervisors, did not show any animus or sinister motive in its assessment of Zelenka. For example, it extended Zelenka’s working test period to help her pass.” The Commission agrees with the foregoing assessment, and thus, affirms the recommendation to deny the appellant’s challenge to her release at the end of the working test period.
ORDER
The Civil Service Commission finds that the action of the appointing authority in releasing the appellant at the end of the working test period was justified. The Commission therefore affirms that action and dismisses the appeal of Jennifer Zelenka.
ClosingThis is the final administrative determination in this matter. Any further review should be pursued in a judicial forum.
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