Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he has selected Morna Murray, president and CEO of the Connecticut Community Providers Association, as the next commissioner of the Department of Developmental Services.
Murray, who starts work Feb. 9, succeeds Terrence Macy, who resigned at the start of Malloy’s second term last month.
Murray is an attorney and previously worked as senior counsel to Pennsylvania Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. She also formerly worked as vice president of First Focus — a children’s policy organization — and for the Children’s Defense Fund.
DDS serves more than 19,000 people with intellectual disabilities.
Murray begins her new role as the agency faces a difficult fiscal situation.
Malloy took $8.4 million from the agency’s budget in a round of rescissions last month.
That came on top of a $5.5 million cut in November.
Murray said in a statement that it’s a critical time for DDS.
“I hold this trust with the utmost humility and determination to find effective solutions to the complex challenges we face,” Murray said. “I look forward to working and collaborating with all staff and stakeholders – particularly individuals with disabilities, their loved ones, and all those who serve them — in doing the hard and painstaking work that leads to progress.”
