Human services leader resigns

The Arkansas Department of Human Services deputy director, Janie Huddleston, is stepping down from her post after 16 years, the agency announced.

Huddleston, 61, was a leader in the overhaul of the state’s child welfare and behavioral health systems.

“In the past 10 years, Janie’s fingerprints are on virtually every major step we’ve taken to improve the lives of Arkansas’ vulnerable children and families,” Human Services Department Director John Selig said Wednesday. “You don’t often find her mix of talent, drive and compassion. We will miss her.”

Huddleston — who earned an annual salary of $127,969 — was responsible for the divisions of Behavioral Health Services, Children and Family Services, County Operations, Developmental Disabilities Services and Medical Services, which includes Medicaid. She was also overseeing efforts to identify and retain high-performing employees.

She began her career with the agency in 1998 as the di- rector of the Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education. She has led several initiatives throughout her career, including expanding state-funded pre-kindergarten programs to at-risk children, creating the Department of Human Services Fellows program, developing agencywide offices focused on quality assurance and effective policies and starting the Safe Babies Court Team pilot project, aimed at supporting the youngest foster children and their families.

Huddleston is leaving to take a job as project director for the Quality Improvement Center for Research-Based Infant-Toddler Court Teams at Zero to Three, a nonprofit organization that provides guidance to parents, professionals and policymakers to nurture early development.

“It’s been an honor to work for DHS and the great people in Arkansas,” Huddleston said in a release. “My new job affords me the opportunity to pursue my passion of supporting families and children in the most critical stages of development.”