The large and complex state Department of Health and Human Services is getting a new leader in a few weeks, and as usual for that agency, big projects are under way and big problems are unresolved.

The state is in negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice over its reliance on assisted living and adult care homes as housing for people with mental illness. The Perdue administration is in a fight with the state legislature on how to close a Medicaid budget hole. And DHHS is appealing a federal court decision on personal care services that is adding millions to Medicaid’s obligations.

At the end of this month, Lanier Cansler will hand control of DHHS to Al Delia, Gov. Bev Perdue’s senior adviser for policy. DHHS, with 17,000 employees, is one of the state’s largest agencies. It oversees public health, mental health, inspects adult care homes, and manages Medicaid, the state and federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled.

Cansler said he is leaving without a job but plans to do some consulting. He started talking to Perdue in November about leaving DHHS, he said.

A state audit critical of his department’s handling of a Medicaid claims computer contract, which is over budget and overdue, was formally released this month. In an interview Wednesday, Cansler again defended the department against the audit’s findings but said the audit is not why he’s going. The audit was under way but not finished when Cansler first talked to Perdue about leaving DHHS.