(Washington, DC) Deputy Mayor for Children, Youth, Families and Elders, Brenda Donald Walker, announced today that Department of Human Services Interim Director Kate Jesberg will retire effective September 30, 2006. Walker stated that she has appointed Brian Wilbon, chief of staff in the Office of the Deputy Mayor and director of the Office of Medicaid Operations Reform, as acting director of DHS effective October 2, 2006.  Jesberg will assist Wilbon for a limited period of time in an advisory capacity to ensure a smooth transition.

Jesberg has provided 26 years of service to the District government as an expert in welfare policy development and administration.  Prior to leading DHS as interim director, she led DHS’ Income Maintenance Administration (IMA), which through its outstanding performance over many years, earned the District $169 million in bonus awards from the federal government. Her leadership resulted in the District being the most awarded jurisdiction in the country in having won 13 out of 14 federal bonus awards. The District used the funds to support programs to assist poor and low-income residents. Jesberg has a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Ilinois and a law degree from Georgetown University. She is an adjunct professor at the George Mason School of Law where she currently teaches a course in Social Welfare Policy and Law.

“Mayor Williams and I thank Kate Jesberg for her many years of excellent service. She has been a credit to social services in the District of Columbia. I also have the utmost confidence in Brian Wilbon and trust that he will ensure the continued management of DHS and its vital programs for District residents,” said Deputy Mayor Walker.

Brian Wilbon has served as chief of staff in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Children, Youth, Families and Elders since November 2005 and as director of the Office of Medicaid Operations Reform since 2003. Mr. Wilbon has assisted Deputy Mayor Walker in providing oversight of the District government’s human services agencies and has been extremely involved in DHS program and policy issues in particular. He also brought more than 10 years of experience in the healthcare financial and operations industry to his directorship of the Office of Medicaid Operations Reform. Prior to holding positions in the District government, Wilbon was Director of the Revenue Division for MAXIMUS. He also worked as a health care consulting manager at Arthur Andersen and as a reimbursement analyst and director of corporate reimbursement at Integrated Health Services. Wilbon began his career at Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Maryland. Wilbon graduated from Hampton University with a BA in accounting, cum laude.