HARTFORD (AP) — The head of Connecticut's child welfare agency has announced that she is stepping down in January.

The Hartford Courant reports that Joette Katz, commissioner of the state Department of Children and Families, said in an email to agency staff Friday that she's leaving so Gov.-elect Ned Lamont can put his stamp on the agency.

Katz, a former state Supreme Court justice, was appointed by Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in 2011.

She reduced the institutionalization of children, but came under criticism for the department's handling of a starving teenager who later died, a locked ward for girls that later closed, and for sending a transgender girl to adult prison.

She said she's not being forced out but decided to step down because she believes "the department needs a honeymoon phase."