Gov. Sarah Sanders on Wednesday (June 11) announced that Arkansas Department of Human Services Deputy Secretary of Programs and State Medicaid Director Janet Mann will be the next Secretary of the Department of Human Services.
After two-and-a-half years in the job, Secretary Kristi Putnam is returning to Kentucky and will depart her role on July 25.
“Over the past two-and-a-half years, Kristi has overhauled the Department of Human Services and brought much-needed reforms to the programs her agency oversees, including foster care, Medicaid, maternal health, food stamps, and more. My administration was extraordinarily lucky to have someone with her skillset and leadership in charge of one of the most critical agencies in state government,” said Sanders.
“I am grateful that we have someone as qualified as Janet to take over for Kristi and seamlessly continue to make positive changes at DHS. Janet has an encyclopedic knowledge of her agency and I know she is the exact right person to lead DHS into the future,” she added.
Mann serves as the deputy secretary of Programs and State Medicaid Director for the Arkansas Department of Human Services. The program includes Medicaid, aging, substance abuse and mental health, developmental disabilities, provider services and quality assurance, eligibility, child welfare and youth services. The programs serve approximately one in three Arkansans annually with a total budget of an estimated $11 billion dollars.
Prior to this role, Mann has more than 20 years of in healthcare and healthcare finance in state government and the corporate sector. This includes several roles at Arkansas DHS as chief financial officer and division director of Medical Services as well as the deputy administrator for Mississippi Medicaid.
In addition, she has worked in the private sector consulting with multiple states’ Medicaid agencies on finance, reporting, managed care, program integrity, organizational assessments and eligibility. Mann holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Alabama and is a Certified Public Accountant.
“I am honored by Governor Sanders’ decision to select me for this role and am excited to continue the great work Kristi and I have been able to accomplish in this administration. We have made enormous progress in providing support to Arkansans who need it and also in working with other agencies for all Arkansans who want a path to economic independence. Under Governor Sanders’ leadership, DHS will continue to deliver for the people of Arkansas,” said Mann.
“Serving in Governor Sanders’ Administration has been the honor of a lifetime for me, and I am grateful and proud of team DHS and all we have accomplished so far under this Governor’s bold leadership. My whole career has focused on serving families, and this move back to Kentucky is so I can serve my own family in a bigger way. Janet is the absolute right person to step up as Secretary, is one of the most creative policy experts I have ever known, and will take DHS to new levels of success,” said Putnam.
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