Ex-Pa. lawmaker to lead Corbett’s welfare agency

    Gov. Tom Corbett says a former state lawmaker will run the massive Department of Public Welfare after two years of missteps and federal scrutiny over why tens of thousands of children disappeared from Medicaid rolls.

    Corbett said Friday that Bev Mackereth will be acting secretary.She’ll succeed Gary Alexander, a Rhode Island resident who told The Associated Press earlier this week that he planned to leave the post. His last day is Feb. 15.

    Mackereth, of York County, served eight years in the state House of Representatives and has managed the department’s Office of Children, Youth and Families since November 2011.

    Even before Alexander was sworn in in 2011, Rhode Island officials disputed his claims over his fiscal achievements as that state’s secretary of Health and Human Services.

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