Gov. Hutchinson advisor Guhman to be DYS interim director

Betty Guhman, a senior advisor for Gov. Asa Hutchinson since 2014 and a longtime associate of his, has been named interim director of the Department of Human Services Division of Youth Services and begins working in that role Wednesday (July 20), DHS announced Tuesday.

The Division of Youth Services oversees the state’s juvenile correctional facilities and treatment centers.

Guhman, a classmate of Hutchinson’s at Springdale High School, was his chief of staff when he was a congressman and when he served as first undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Earlier she was a protective service worker for what is now the Division of Children and Family Services in 1973. She became deputy commissioner of the newly formed Division of Youth Services in 1977. She later became a tenured professor at the University of Arkansas’ Department of Sociology, Criminal Justice and Social Work and was director of the Fullbright School of Public Affairs. She has a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Arkansas and a master’s degree in social work administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

“While she is leaving the Governor’s office, I am glad that she will be nearby as she takes the role of interim director of the Department of Youth Services,” Hutchinson said. “Betty’s years of experience in child welfare and human services will be a perfect fit for DYS during this time of transition as they continue the search for a director.”

The state’s previous DYS director, Marcus Devine, resigned in April after 13 months on the job to work in the private sector.