Correction, Dec. 3, 2025, 4:41 p.m. Central :
The story has been corrected to say that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is a separate agency from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
Stephanie Muth, the former commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, has been named Texas’ next health commissioner. Her first day will be on Jan. 3.
On Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott announced that he has appointed Muth to take over Texas Health and Human Services Commission after the agency’s current head Cecile Erwin Young announced her retirement this week.
“Stephanie Muth is a dedicated public servant who brings over 25 years of experience working in state government and at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission,” said Abbott.
Muth left DFPS at the end of July after helming the agency that oversees child protective services and the foster care system since 2023. Since her departure, Muth started her own consulting firm, and she serves as a senior fellow with Meadow’s Mental Health Policy Institute.
She has worked in state government for over 25 years and held senior executive-level positions at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for more than 15 years.
Young, who was appointed during one of the state’s earliest and worst waves of COVID-19 cases, gave no reason for the retirement.
“This agency impacts every Texan, and I have been honored to serve the people of this state alongside our dedicated staff,” she said in a news release
Young took the helm of the health and human services department with nearly 37,000 employees in August 2020, as it navigated the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing criticism of its contracting procedures.
Under Young’s leadership, some regulatory requirements for care were changed to reduce the burden on medical providers across the state, and federal funds were secured during the pandemic to create a safety net for hospitals.
Young has also overseen the expansion, renovation, and construction of 11 state psychiatric hospitals.
Before taking over as head of the health agency, Young worked at several state agencies and began her work at the Health and Human Services Commission in the early 1990s after the Legislature created it.
When Young took over the state’s health agency, it was in the midst of years of shifting leadership.
Courtney Phillips led the commission for just over a year before leaving to take the top job at Louisiana’s health agency in 2020. And in 2018, contracting scandals forced several top agency officials, including former Commissioner Charles Smith, to step down.
Abbott said Young’s almost four decades of service for Texas are unmatched, and she leaves a remarkable legacy.
“Throughout her leadership at Texas Health and Human Services and her career as a public servant, she demonstrated her commitment to excellence and integrity, and remained focused on caring for Texans and helping them thrive,” he said in a news release.