 Dear Community Partners, Family and Friends,
I want to let you know that Developmental Disabilities Administration Assistant Secretary Debbie Roberts has submitted her resignation effective immediately.
I truly appreciate Debbie’s service in this role for the last 22 months and to this agency in many capacities for nearly two decades, and I wish her all the best in the future. I am especially grateful for her devotion and commitment to the community of people with developmental and intellectual disabilities as well as the people who support them, including the dedicated team of more than 4,000 DDA staff members.
Please be assured that there will be no interruption of services to our DDA clients. To ensure a smooth transition, I have appointed Dr. Tonik Joseph to serve as DDA Interim Assistant Secretary. Many of you are already well-familiar with Dr. Joseph, who is most recently DDA’s Director of Strategic Planning and Quality Compliance Monitoring. Since 2016, she has provided a wide range of expertise to DSHS, as a Senior Risk Manager charged with prioritizing loss prevention and minimizing risk in the state’s largest agency, and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for our Behavioral Health Administration helping transform behavioral health and improve patient service delivery in Washington state. Dr. Joseph brings with her an executive-level background in the U.S. Department of Defense and exceptional project management skills as well as unparalleled enthusiasm for our shared work of transforming lives.
We will begin a competitive national recruitment process for a permanent Assistant Secretary in the coming months, which will include DDA clients, family members and loved ones, community partners and other key stakeholders. We will keep you informed of developments in this process.
Please join me in wishing Debbie all the best and welcoming Tonik to her new role.
Respectfully,
Jilma
JILMA MENESES / Secretary
Office of the Secretary
Washington State Department of Social and Health Services
(O) 360-902-7800 / Jilma.meneses@dshs.wa.gov
Transforming Lives
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