The Phoenix Flyer

DeSantis picks new secretaries of Children & Families and Juvenile Justice

By: Julie Hauserman - January 3, 2019 12:24 pm

Incoming Gov. Ron DeSantis has picked two state government veterans to head key social service agencies.

Former state official Chad Poppel has been tapped as the new Secretary of Florida’s Department of Children and Families.

According to information provided by the transition team for incoming Gov. Ron DeSantis, Poppel has been working as an executive with IBM. He previously served as the Secretary of Florida’s Department of Management Services and as chief of staff for the Department of Economic Opportunity. He also held positions in the City of Jacksonville.

Poppel earned a B.S. and an M.S. from Valdosta State University in Georgia.

DCF has had an interim secretary since former Secretary Mike Carroll left the post last summer.

The DeSantis administration also picked a new head of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice – Simone Marstiller. Marstiller is a former First District Court of Appeal Judge and former Secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. She has been working with the law firm of Gunster, Yoakley, and Stewart.

According to information provided by the DeSantis transition team, Marstiller is a former assistant general counsel and deputy chief of staff under former Gov. Jeb Bush, and also served as General Counsel for the state’s Department of Management Services and as General Counsel for former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum. She served as Executive Director for the Florida Elections Commission and was appointed to the appellate court in 2010. Marstiller earned a B.A. and a law degree from Stetson.

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Julie Hauserman

Julie Hauserman has been writing about Florida for more than 30 years. She is a former Capitol bureau reporter for the St. Petersburg (Tampa Bay) Times, and reported for The Stuart News and the Tallahassee Democrat. She was a national commentator for National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Sunday and The Splendid Table . She has won many awards, including two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize. Her work is featured in several Florida anthologies, including The Wild Heart of Florida , The Book of the Everglades , and Between Two Rivers . Her new book is Drawn to The Deep, a University Press of Florida biography of Florida cave diver and National Geographic explorer Wes Skiles.