They would not elaborate.
Efforts to contact Alexander and Patterson for comment have been unsuccessful.
A department spokeswoman said Thursday that Patterson's last day will be Tuesday.
In its initial announcement of Patterson's departure last week, the Corbett administration distanced itself from views expressed in the journal, which has criticized key welfare programs administered by the Department of Public Welfare and offered opinions that women should be stay-at-home mothers and not use birth control pills.
The department hired Patterson in October. Officials said he chose to resign because he had been denied his request to remain editor of the Family in America journal while working for the state.
Patterson began writing for the publication in 2004 and was named editor in 2009. The journal is published by the Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society in Rockford, Ill., which opposes abortion, divorce, birth control, feminism, and homosexuality, and advocates for a "child-rich, married-parent" family.
Contact staff writer Angela Couloumbis at 717-787-5934, acouloumbis@phillynews.com, or @AngelasInk on Twitter.
