MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle today announced the appointment of Henry Wilde as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Children and Families. He also announced that Angela Russell will serve as Executive Assistant. Reggie Bicha was named Secretary of the new agency in November 2007. The new Department of Children and Families will begin operation on July 1, 2008.
“Henry Wilde brings incredible knowledge and a long history of service to children and families to this position,” Governor Doyle said. “Led by Secretary Bicha, Deputy Secretary Wilde, and Angela Russell, I expect the new department to make significant strides in helping to improve the lives of our states children and families.”
"I am grateful to Governor Doyle and Secretary Bicha for the opportunity to serve the children and families of our state,” Wilde said. “For many years, this has been both a personal and professional passion. I cannot imagine a more important mission, and I look forward to helping build an agency that operates with a singular focus on doing what is in the best interest of children and families."
Since January, Wilde, 32, has worked with Bicha to coordinate the creation of the new Department of Children and Families. Wilde joined Wisconsin state government in 2007 as a Division Administrator in the Department of Commerce, overseeing the State's business development programs. But for the past ten years, beginning with his service as a Special Assistant to Marian Wright Edelman at the Children's Defense Fund, after graduating from Harvard University magna cum laude, his special passion has been the needs of children and families. From 2001 to 2007, Wilde helped manage the company he co-founded, Acelero Learning, which operates Head Start programs, serving more than 2,000 low income children and employing 450 people in multiple states. He has also been a management consultant for the Monitor Company, providing strategic management advice to Fortune 500 companies. A Beloit native, he earned his MBA from the Harvard Business School, where he focused on social entrepreneurship.
“I am honored and very excited to have this once in a lifetime opportunity to help implement Governor Doyle’s vision in further improving the lives of children and families across Wisconsin through the Department of Children and Families,” Russell said. “Over the past five and half years Governor Doyle has been devoted to improving the lives of children and families. With the creation of the new department, he is taking the next step in ensuring that Wisconsin children grow up safe, healthy and successful. “
Russell, 30, also served on the transition team for the creation of the Department of Children and Families. Prior to this position, she served as Policy Advisor for Governor Jim Doyle for three years on issues related to health care, workforce development, veterans, corrections, technical colleges, higher education financial aid, and community and faith based partnerships. Russell received her Master’s of Science in Population Health with a focus on epidemiology and health policy from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and her Bachelor’s of Science from Beloit College.
The new Department of Children and Families will help shape the future of children in Wisconsin by ensuring that every child has the opportunity to grow up in a nurturing family and community. The department will be Wisconsin’s first cabinet agency devoted exclusively to helping and protecting kids and families of the state. It will unify more than 30 services currently divided between the Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) and the Department of Workforce Development (DWD). In creating the new department, Wisconsin will improve outcomes for children and families by providing more seamless, integrated, and family-centered services that are focused on accountability and results.
The new agency will have a budget of over $1 billion and have more than 500 employees in Milwaukee, Madison, and around the state. The agency will manage the following services:
• Wisconsin Works
• Wisconsin Shares - Child Care Subsidy Program
• Child Support Enforcement
• Child Welfare and Milwaukee Child Welfare
• Home Visitation
• Foster Care
• Special Needs Adoption
• Kinship Care
• Brighter Futures
• Domestic Abuse
• Child Care Licensing
• Community Service Block Grant
