Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley Appoints Shakita LaGrant-McClain as Director of Health and Human Services

Today, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley announced the appointment of Shakita LaGrant-McClain as Director of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

“It is a privilege to appoint Shakita LaGrant-McClain as Director of Health and Human Services at a time when Milwaukee County desperately needs her leadership and vision to keep residents safe as we continue to fight the pandemic and achieve our stated goals to achieve racial equity,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. “Her strong leadership and wealth of experience at DHHS will be critical to ensuring Milwaukee County residents are healthy and remain safe as we navigate the pandemic and seek to build back better once we’ve defeated COVID-19. “

The Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services is one of the largest departments at Milwaukee County with over 800 employees serving across several divisions. LaGrant-McClain has been with DHHS since 2013, where she served as the Program Coordinator for the Disability Resource Center, analyzing and developing policies for the department. In May of this year, Ms. LaGrant-McClain became Interim Director of Health and Human Services and Interim Director of the Department on Aging where she has focused on ensuring residents can access the services they need without running into barriers.

"DHHS is committed to working toward achieving racial equity and making Milwaukee County the healthiest county in Wisconsin,” said LaGrant-McClain. “There is hard work being done at DHHS to improve the accessibility of services and make the all-around customer experience with DHHS quicker and more streamlined. I am eager to continue this work and lead in bridging the gap in racial health disparities by making it easier to access services that meet the holistic needs of our residents.” 

Milwaukee County’s vision is to be the healthiest county in Wisconsin by achieving racial equity and recently announced three strategic focus areas to achieve racial equity goals including shifting institutional power to make sure that people in positions of power and influence represent the full diversity and interests of all county residents. Currently, 54 percent of current department leaders are African-American – up from 31 percent when County Executive Crowley took office in May. Should the County Board confirm the County Executive’s recommendation next cycle six out of thirteen, or 46%, Milwaukee County department leaders would be women. 

Shakita LaGrant-McClain’s appointment is subject to County Board confirmation to be scheduled in September.