Gov. Peter Shumlin announced Friday that the commissioners of two departments at the Agency of Human Services will leave their posts this year.
Shumlin also confirmed that Paul Dupre, the commissioner of the Department of Mental Health, will retire next week. Frank Reed, the deputy commissioner and a clinical social worker, will replace Dupre on an interim basis.
Dupre is the fifth person to lead the Department of Mental Health since Shumlin took office. He had only planned to stay in the position for two years when he started in 2013.
“Dr. Wehry is very knowledgeable and intellectually engaged on the issues relating to the people served by [disability] programs,” Hal Cohen, secretary of the Agency of Human Services, said in a statement.
“She is especially passionate about promoting healthy aging and improving dementia care and expanding independent living opportunities,” Cohen said. He called Hutt “a strong leader” in human services policy.
This year, the Legislature passed language within the economic development bill that encourages Vermonters with disabilities to work. Wehry said in a statement that she was “grateful” for those programs, which became law this week.
“We can all be proud that under her leadership, Vermont achieved the status of healthiest senior state in the nation,” Shumlin said in a statement.
