Sean Brown, commissioner of the Vermont Department for Children and Families, will soon help lead the Agency of Administration, Gov. Phil Scott announced in a press release on Tuesday.
Brown has served in leadership roles in the department for more than eight years, and was appointed as commissioner in June 2020. One of the largest departments in state government, DCF runs key social programs throughout the state, such as the foster care and adoption systems, disability benefits and food payment assistance.
The Agency of Administration, where Brown is set to serve as chief operating officer, oversees the state’s hiring, financial systems, tax collection and building operations.
Scott appointed Harry Chen, the former commissioner of the Department of Health, to serve as interim commissioner of DCF. Chen is a physician and has served in a variety of roles in state government, most recently as a medical advisor for Vermont’s Covid-19 response. Chen served as interim secretary of the Agency of Human Services, which includes DCF, under Gov. Peter Shumlin in 2014 and 2015.
Brown spent just over two years as commissioner. His predecessor at DCF, Ken Schatz, spent six years in the role before retiring in 2020.
Although Brown has been a part of the Agency of Human Services for 26 years, he said he’s “always had an eye on” a role like the one he’s taking now.
“The Agency of Administration has a statewide impact in view, versus DCF is just for our department, one aspect, and so that’s always been an interest of mine,” he said.
At the agency, he said he’s excited to help prepare the capital bill — the biennial legislation that funds state construction projects — and to have a “broader” overview of the budget.
Brown said he learned he’d been appointed in August, but stayed on with the department until October to help prepare its budget and its legislative initiatives for the upcoming session. He plans to work with Chen to help ease the transition.
Brown said he saw himself as “the pandemic commissioner” of the department: Starting with his appointment in 2020, the needs of the department during the Covid-19 emergency shaped his experience.
“The pandemic certainly took its toll on our system of care,” particularly for children in foster homes and other programs, he said. “A lot of effort has gone into stabilizing and trying to bring that system back to meet the needs of the kids in our care.”
He said some of those efforts have begun to “bear fruit,” but that Chen would have to continue to expand the capacity of social programs and work on the residential treatment program for addiction and mental health issues.
Scott also appointed Daniel Batsie to the role of deputy commissioner of the Department of Public Safety. Until now, Batsie had been serving as the health department’s director of emergency response, preparedness and injury prevention.
