The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is headed by the assistant secretary of health and human services for children and families.[1] It has a $49 billion budget for 60 programs that target children, youth and families.[2] These programs include assistance with welfare, child support enforcement, adoption assistance, foster care, child care, and child abuse. The agency employs approximately 1,700 staff, including 1,200 federal employees and 500 contractors, where 60% are based in Washington, DC, with the remaining in regional offices located in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City (Missouri), Denver, San Francisco, and Seattle.[3]
"The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), provides national leadership and creates opportunities for families to lead economically and socially productive lives. ACF's programs are designed to help children to develop into healthy adults and communities to become more prosperous and supportive of their members."[4]
History
ACF's direct predecessor, the Family Support Administration, was created in 1986 by bringing together six existing major programs within HHS.[5] ACF was created in its present form on April 15, 1991, by merging the Office of Human Development Services, the Family Support Administration, and the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Program.[5][6] Section 6 of Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1953 provided the legal authority for the reorganization.[6]
Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response
Office of Regional Operations
Office of the Assistant Secretary
Office of Administration
Office of the Chief Information Officer
Office of Legislative Affairs and Budget
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation
Office of Communications
Major goals
ACF is responsible for federal programs that promote the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals and communities. ACF programs aim to achieve the following:
families and individuals empowered to increase their own economic independence and productivity;
strong, healthy, supportive communities that have a positive impact on the quality of life and the development of children;
partnerships with individuals, front-line service providers, communities, American Indian tribes, Native communities, states, and Congress that enable solutions which transcend traditional agency boundaries;
services planned, reformed, and integrated to improve needed access;
a strong commitment to working with people with developmental disabilities, refugees, and migrants to address their needs, strengths, and abilities."[4]
Office of Child Support Enforcement Tribal Resources
Abstinence education
For fiscal year 2006, ending September 30, 2006, Congress appropriated $50 million for state grants for abstinence education programs. Such programs teach that abstaining from sex is the only effective or acceptable method to prevent pregnancy or disease, and give no instruction on birth control or safe sex. In October 2006, revised guidelines by ACF specified that states seeking grants are "to identify groups ... most likely to bear children out-of-wedlock, targeting adolescents and/or adults within the 12- through 29-year-old age range". Previous guidelines didn't mention specific ages, and programs focused on preteens and teens.[8]
ACF also administers the Community-Based Abstinence Education Program, which is focused on funding public and private entities that provide abstinence-until-marriage education for adolescents from 12 to 18 years old. For fiscal year 2005, 63 grants were awarded, totaling $104 million to organizations and other entities; in fiscal 2001, grants totaled only $20 million. In October 2006, the Government Accountability Office reported that ACF does not review its grantees' education materials for scientific accuracy and does not require grantees of either program to review their own materials for scientific accuracy. GAO also reported that most of the efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of abstinence-until-marriage education programs included in GAO's review have not met certain minimum scientific criteria.[9]
The United States secretary of health and human services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all health matters. The secretary is a member of the United States Cabinet. The office was formerly Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. In 1980, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was renamed the Department of Health and Human Services, and its education functions and Rehabilitation Services Administration were transferred to the new United States Department of Education. Patricia Roberts Harris headed the department before and after it was renamed.
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of the U.S. people and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America". Before the separate federal Department of Education was created in 1979, it was called the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW).
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The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. SAMHSA is charged with improving the quality and availability of treatment and rehabilitative services in order to reduce illness, death, disability, and the cost to society resulting from substance abuse and mental illnesses. The Administrator of SAMHSA reports directly to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. SAMHSA's headquarters building is located outside of Rockville, Maryland.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services located in North Bethesda, Maryland. It is the primary federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated or medically vulnerable.
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The said bureau shall investigate and report to [the Department of Commerce and Labor] upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of children and child life among all classes of our people, and shall especially investigate the questions of infant mortality, the birth-rate, orphanage, juvenile courts, desertion, dangerous occupations, accidents and diseases of children, employment, legislation affecting children in the several states and territories.
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program is a United States federal social services program first established in 1981 and funded annually through Congressional appropriations. The mission of LIHEAP is to assist low income households, particularly those with the lowest incomes that pay a high proportion of household income for home energy, primarily in meeting their immediate home energy needs. The program, part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is funded by grants appropriated from the federal government.
Susan Orr headed the United States Children's Bureau, a federal agency organized under the United States Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families, Administration for Children and Families, as Associate Commissioner.
The Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), is one of six Bureaus within the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services located in Rockville, Maryland.
Elizabeth M. Duke was the administrator for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) from March 6, 2002 to February 28, 2009.
The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with locations in the United States, Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Kenya, and a national network of nearly 200 partner agencies that provide support for those experiencing forced and voluntary displacement.
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The Supporting Healthy Marriage Project (SHM) is part of the Healthy Marriage Initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, that was launched in 2003 as "the first large-scale, multisite, multiyear, rigorous test of marriage education programs for low-income married couples". The project is motivated by research that "indicates that married adults and children raised by both parents in stable, low-conflict households do better on a host of outcomes". The evaluation is led by MDRC, in collaboration with Abt Associates and other partners. USASpending.gov reports payments of more than $30 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to MDRC for work on the Supporting Healthy Marriage Project from 2009 to 2012.
The Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) is a United States government office responsible for overseeing the U.S. child support program. Child support is the obligation on parents to provide financial support for their children. OCSS was established with the Federal Government’s enactment of Child Support Enforcement and Paternity Establishment Program (CSE) in 1975, which was enacted to reduce welfare expenses by collecting child support from non-custodial parents.
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