Governor Carcieri has named Craig S. Stenning as director of the R.I. Department of Mental Health, Retardation, and Hospitals (MHRH).

Stenning has served as the interim director of the agency since June 2008.

"Craig has spent his career serving the public with integrity and distinction and I am confident he will continue to serve with excellence as we move ahead with reform throughout MHRH," Carcieri said in a statement this afternoon.

MHRH oversees a network of mental health, developmental disability and substance abuse programs. It also oversees the operations at Eleanor Slater Hospital.

Stenning began his career almost four decades ago, when he founded the CODAC Treatment Centers and served as CEO there for 28 years. In 2000, he took over as the state's first executive director of Behavioral and Healthcare Services. Since then he has worked within MHRH in a variety of areas, including work last year with the Department of Human Services on the new state Medicaid overhaul commonly known as the "Global Waiver."

"I look forward to the challenge of continuing to reform our delivery system in order to provide effective services within the fiscal constraints of our state," Stenning said in a statement.

His nomination is subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.

Last week, Carcieri Governor Carcieri announced the promotion of another familiar face -- Department of Human Services Director Gary Alexander -- to oversee four state departments as secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.