Chris Winters, commissioner of the Vermont Department for Children and Families, plans to step down.
Instead, he is set to become deputy commissioner of the Department of Labor on Sept. 22, Gov. Phil Scott announced Friday in a press release.
Scott also appointed Rick Hildebrant to lead the Department of Health. Hildebrant works as the chief medical information officer and medical director of hospital medicine at Rutland Regional Medical Center. His appointment takes effect Oct. 13.
Hildebrant replaces Mark Levine, the face of Vermont’s Covid-19 response, who retired in March.
“Even as public health leadership faces challenges nationally, Vermont has consistently demonstrated that collaboration, science, and community can chart a different course,” Hildebrant said in the release.
Winters, who previously served as deputy secretary of state, took over DCF in 2023 after an unsuccessful bid to become secretary of state. Sandi Hoffman, deputy commissioner of the Department of Vermont Health Access, is slated to take over for Winters in an interim capacity at the department, which, among other responsibilities, oversees economic benefits, some social services and child welfare.
In the release, Scott thanked Winters for his “steady leadership.”
DCF’s top position is widely considered one of the most difficult in state government, and Winters has faced challenges during his tenure.
The department oversees Vermont’s motel voucher program, which puts unhoused residents in motel rooms across the state. The program is a lightning rod for lawmakers and Scott, and as it’s downsized, Winters’ department has taken flak for the waves of motel evictions that pushed people to live outside.
In January, the ACLU of Vermont sued DCF for allegedly tracking the pregnancies of Vermonters deemed “high-risk” and seeking custody of an unborn child. That litigation remains ongoing.
At the Department of Labor, Winters will work under Kendal Smith, who previously served as deputy commissioner and interim commissioner, and whom Scott appointed in an official capacity Friday.
