Governor Rendell Announces Departure of Public Welfare Secretary Harriet Dichter

Michael Nardone named Acting Secretary

HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Edward G. Rendell today announced that Department of Public Welfare Secretary Harriet Dichter will resign Wednesday, Sept. 15, to open the Washington, D.C., office of the First Five Years Fund, which is dedicated to improving federal policy for early education.

The governor has named Michael Nardone, deputy secretary for DPW's Office of Medical Assistance Programs, as acting secretary starting Sept. 16.

"Harriet Dichter has been instrumental in helping my administration achieve some of its most important accomplishments, particularly in the area of early childhood development," the Governor said. "As our founding deputy for the Office of Child Development and Early Learning, she provided a national model for bringing together all early learning programs sponsored by education and human services into one integrated approach.

"She also created several new programs to fill unmet needs in early childhood education and raised the bar on standards and accountability, with many more at-risk children showing success in their early learning and in improving the programs that served them," he added. "Since 2003, the percent of three- and four-year-olds participating in high-quality early childhood education has nearly doubled from 18 percent to 35 percent and nearly 100 percent of children in these programs have shown age-appropriate or emerging age-appropriate proficiency in literacy, numeracy, and social skills."

The Governor noted this overall results-oriented approach received universal praise throughout the nation, including from President Obama, who said other states should replicate this creative, effective plan. He noted Dichter took that leadership ability to the Department of Public Welfare, where she has worked tirelessly to help those in greatest need.

Dichter was named acting secretary of DPW in December 2009 and was unanimously confirmed by the state Senate in April. She previously served as Pennsylvania's first-ever deputy secretary for the Office of Child Development and Early Learning for the departments of Public Welfare and Education, where she led state efforts to bolster early education and care for Pennsylvania children.

"Early childhood education has long been a passion for me, and we have been able to do tremendous things in Pennsylvania under Governor Rendell to bolster our early childhood development programs to benefit millions of families," Dichter said. "I am looking forward to bringing that commitment to the nation's capital."

Dichter has held increasingly responsible leadership positions in health and human services organizations for the last 25 years. While most of her work has been in the public sector, she also worked as part of the management team at the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and she was responsible for national grant-making for children's health and early childhood education at the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Dichter was the first non-physician to run the City of Philadelphia's Office of Maternal and Child Health, where she upgraded services, increased federal funding, and gained recognition as one of the city's top managers by a prominent business organization. As an attorney, Dichter represented people with disabilities and victims of domestic violence.

Nardone oversees Pennsylvania's Medicaid program, which serves more than 2 million Pennsylvanians, and has more than three decades of experience in the health and human services field on the state and national level.

As deputy secretary for Medical Assistance Programs, Nardone has garnered national attention for his efforts to enhance quality, affordability and access to care for consumers. In June, he was among six Medicaid directors in the nation selected to participate as fellows in the 2011 class of the Medicaid Leadership Institute.

Media contacts:

Gary Tuma, Governor's Office; 717-783-1116

Mike Race, DPW; 717-425-7606

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor