Maryland Department of Human Resources Secretary Brenda Donald will step down from her position next month to accept a job with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a move the former Casey fellow said feels like going home.
Donald spent more than three years as DHR secretary, focusing on decreasing the number of children living in group homes and finding work for people receiving welfare and child support payments. Donald will become the vice president of the Center for Effective Family Services and Systems, where she will formulate policies for disadvantaged children on a national level. The Casey Foundation is one of the country's leading advocates for children's health.
"It's what I've done my whole career," Donald said.
During Donald's tenure with the DHR, the number of children in foster care in Baltimore City fell by more than 20 percent, and her Place Matters initiative was widely credited with reuniting children in the government system with their families.
But the department struggled to provide medical services and benefits on time to families during the height of the recession. DHR was sued last year by an Owings Mills woman who had to wait months to receive food stamps, and a Circuit Court judge ordered the department to deliver those services to all residents within 30 days, as the law dictates, starting by the end of this year.
Matthew Joseph, director of the Maryland Advocates for Children and Youth, said secretaries who tend to be strong in one area often do so at the expense of another.
"She did accomplish a lot and had been one of the strongest secretaries related to child welfare. She was really strong in getting the numbers to move," Joseph said. "But at least half her agencies are related to poor families, and she didn't pay enough attention to that until the food stamps case."
Deputy Secretary Brian Wilbon will serve as acting secretary while Gov. Martin O'Malley conducts a national search for Donald's replacement.
O'Malley appointed Donald in February 2007 and praised her for her professionalism and reform-minded approach.
Donald will succeed Patrick T. McCarthy, now the president and CEO of the Casey Foundation, on Aug. 2. Her history with the Casey Foundation stretches back 20 years, when she was named a fellow.
Her last day with the state is July 23.