The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, May 5, 1996                    TAG: 9605030185
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS      PAGE: 34   EDITION: FINAL 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   27 lines

REHABILITATIVE SERVICES NAMES REGIONAL DIRECTOR

Barbara Franklin has been named Tidewater regional director of the Field Rehabilitation Service Division of the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services, a job she had held on an acting basis for 11 months.

Franklin, who worked more than eight years as human services manager in the Portsmouth office of DRS, is the first woman and the first African American to hold the regional job.

As head of the Portsmouth office, she was responsible for services in Portsmouth, Franklin, Suffolk and Isle of Wight and Southampton counties.

A Portsmouth native, she is a graduate of Norfolk State University. She is the daughter of Velma E. Bell and the late John N. Bell and the mother of one son, Jonathan Franklin. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Barbara Franklin

Regional director

by CNB