Maryland Secretary of Human Services Rafael López plans to resign later this month for health reasons, Gov. Wes Moore announced Monday.

López oversaw an agency that struggled with its charge to provide social safety net services to vulnerable Marylanders, including a series of critical audits and the death of a teenage girl in state custody who was living in a Baltimore hotel.

The department also had difficulties with awarding a contract to provide new cards to people receiving benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

López also had personal challenges, pleading guilty in December to a charge of driving under the influence in Washington, D.C., the result of a traffic stop earlier that year. López spent time on administrative leave after his arrest in January 2025.

López’s departure was described as a “leadership transition” in an announcement from the Democratic governor’s office. He remains on the job through Feb. 23, and Deputy Secretary Gloria Brown Burnett will serve as acting secretary through April 1. Stacy L. Rodgers, a former top official in Baltimore County, will then take over as acting secretary.

In a statement released by the governor’s office, López said he was resigning for “health-related reasons.” He said he was proud of his work for the state.

Moore praised López’s service, noting improvements in placing foster care children with relatives, decreasing the error rate in the SNAP program and enrolling more children in a summer nutrition program called SUN Bucks. López was also involved in the state’s launch of a new website, the Maryland One Benefits Application, designed to make it easier for Marylanders to apply for a variety of benefits.

López has been absent from General Assembly hearings in recent weeks, raising concerns among some lawmakers. The Department of Human Services has budget hearings scheduled this week that the secretary would typically attend.

Judith Schagrin, a former director of social services for Baltimore County, questioned the department’s efforts under López to place foster children in appropriate settings.

“I never believed he took the placement crisis seriously and advocated effectively for the placement resources our youth most in need are badly lacking,” Schagrin said. “I don’t know if someone new will make it a priority, but I hope so.”

A lawsuit against the Department of Human Services has been ongoing for four decades as the state struggles with its treatment of foster youths in what’s known as “out-of-home care.” There’s been a shortage of proper facilities, and often children in state custody who have complex behavioral and mental health issues, end up staying in hotels or hospitals for extended periods.

The issue came to a head last fall when 16-year-old Kanaiyah Ward died by suicide in a Baltimore hotel. Ward, who was in the foster care system, had been living there for weeks under the supervision of a state-contracted aide. An investigative report from the human services department later found the aide did not properly supervise Ward or lock up medications as required.

Republican lawmakers had called for López’s ouster since Ward’s death.

“It had become apparent that Secretary López was not effectively leading the Department,” Del. Jason Buckel, the House of Delegates minority leader, said in a statement.

Del. Steve Arentz, an Eastern Shore Republican, said it was “absolutely shameful” that López wouldn’t say Ward’s name until he did during a hearing last fall.

Del. Mike Griffith, a Republican representing Cecil and Harford counties, spent time in foster care as a child and is sponsoring legislation to prohibit the state from placing children in unlicensed facilities. He called López’s departure “a step in the right direction.”

“While some of the problems in the Department go back years,” Griffith said in a written statement, “the Secretary demonstrated time and again that he was not the agent of change the Department needed to keep children safe.”