Iowa Senate News Release
For Immediate Release: 18 June 2019
Statement from Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen
on Governor’s latest statement on departure of DHS Director
“The Governor’s latest statement on the departure of Jerry Foxhoven is as clear as mud.
“If the Governor has been working behind closed doors for nearly six months on a new direction, a new team and a new vision for the Department of Human Services, she needs to back up her rhetoric with positive action. This includes outlining her specific plans to:
- Fix a privatized Medicaid system that is unsustainable, unaffordable and unaccountable.
- Reverse course on policies that decimated the state’s successful family planning network, resulting in more unintended pregnancies, more risky births, more teenage mothers.
- Present a comprehensive plan for adequately funding mental health services for children and adults.
- Stop dangerous practices and procedures at Glenwood, Eldora and other at state-operated facilities.
- Rebuild the child protective safety net instead of putting dangerous holes in it.
- Explain to Iowans why she made the decision to replace Foxhoven (a) when her Administration is in the middle of negotiations with both out-of-state managed care organizations (MCOs) and (b) when hundreds of thousands of Iowans are two weeks away from transitioning to a new MCO.
“Finally, I repeat my call for the Governor to immediately launch a nationwide search for a new Director of the Department of Human Services who is truly committed to watching out for the most vulnerable children and adults in Iowa.
“When then-Director Chuck Palmer resigned in 2017, the Governor posted the opening on the website of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services (https://agency.governmentjobs.com/iowa/job_bulletin.cfm?jobID=1755326&sharedWindow=0) and that should be her first step to take in 2019.”
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