Hawkins, Department of Human Services director, resigns

Updated at 1:50 p.m.

PROVIDENCE Courtney E. Hawkins, director of the R.I. Department of Human Services, submitted a letter of resignation Thursday.

“Leading the team of hundreds of dedicated public servants at the Department of Human Services has been the greatest honor and opportunity of my life. Together we stabilized the department’s operations while implementing a number of programmatic improvements which have impacted and improved the lives of thousands of vulnerable individuals and families,” wrote Hawkins in a letter submitted to Health and Human Services Secretary Womazetta Jones.

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Hawkins, whose resignation is effective on May 14, has served in the role since June of 2017, when she was appointed by former Gov. Gina M. Raimondo. She also previously worked as Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza’s chief policy officer, after serving as a senior vice president at FEGS Health and Human Services, a New York City-based human services agency.

Hawkins worked on former Gov. Gina M. Raimondo’s efforts to stabilize social-services programs after the United Health Infrastructure Project computer system implantation debacle that began in 2016.

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Matt Sheaff, the spokesman for Gov. Daniel J. McKee, said a successor to Hawkins has not yet been named.

“It will be a priority for the McKee administration to find a candidate to lead this department which plays a crucial role in the lives of so many Rhode Islanders,” said Sheaff. “We thank Director Hawkins for her service and wish her all the best.”

McKee on Thursday said he had asked Hawkins to stay on as director because she is “very highly thought of” and she had agreed to do so. He said he didn’t know why she has decided to leave.

(ADDS last paragraph with McKee comment.)

Cassius Shuman is a PBN staff writer. Contact him at Shuman@PBN.com.