Governor Larry Hogan has appointed Lourdes Padilla as secretary of the Maryland Department of Human Resources (DHR), effective Feb. 8th.

According to a press release,

Ms. Padilla has more than 28 years of experience in the human services field. She currently serves as the Deputy Secretary for Income Maintenance at the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, a role she is leaving to join the Hogan-Rutherford administration. In this capacity, she oversees operations for five bureaus under the agency, including Child Support Enforcement, Program Support, and Program Evaluation. She manages over 90 field offices with over 7,000 employees, and is responsible for an operating budget of more than $2 billion.

Governor Hogan also announced the departure of Maryland Department of Information Technology (DoIT) Secretary David A. Garcia, who tendered his resignation in order to attend to family and personal issues. He will remain in his position through the end of January, during which time a search will be conducted for his replacement.

Read the full press release for more information.