When Ross Hunter was appointed last year as secretary of the new Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), he made a commitment to visit every office to learn from employees who would eventually work for DCYF. He also committed to visit with community members and stakeholders across the state.

Over the past few months, I’ve visited a number of Children’s Administration offices while on my tour of the new DCYF offices. Two chronic problems the agency faces have become clear to me during these visits — high turnover among caseworkers and a severe shortage of foster homes.

As you can see, decisions and announcements are coming out more frequently as we get nearer to July 1 and are closer to having all of our ducks in a row. Today I am making some announcements about more high-level management appointments — others will follow in the coming weeks.

I’m excited to announce that Jody Becker will be joining us as Deputy Secretary of Programs for Children and Families. She’ll start on March 16th. She has a long work history and series of successes in supporting families and children, including receiving the Governor’s Award for Leadership and Management in 2015. I am particularly excited about this part of her official bio: