Defunct agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs
The Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) was the agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs created as part of United StatesPresidentLyndon B. Johnson's Great Society legislative agenda. It was established in 1964 as an independent agency and renamed the Community Services Administration (CSA) in 1975.
The Office of Economic Opportunity was created through the efforts of President Lyndon Johnson in his War on Poverty campaign, which aimed to tackle economic and racial inequality. In 1964, Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act, the legislative keystone for this campaign that provided funding for the OEO as a new agency within the Office of the President.[1]R. Sargent Shriver served as its first director.[2] The Office administered antipoverty programs such as VISTA, Job Corps, Community Action Program, and Head Start, and it quickly became a target of both left-wing and right-wing critics of the war on poverty legislation.[1]
President Richard Nixon's appointment of Howard Phillips as Acting Director of OEO in January 1973 touched off a national controversy culminating in a court case in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Williams v. Phillips, 482 F.2d 669)[3] challenging the legality of Phillips' appointment. The Court found Phillips's appointment illegal because it failed to meet the statutory circumstances enabling the appointment of an interim director without Senate confirmation as required by the U.S. Constitution.[3] This judgment was upheld on appeal.[4]
President Nixon's attempt to impound appropriated funds for OEO was ruled unconstitutional by Judge William B. Jones on April 11, 1973, in a case brought by Local 2677, AFGE; West Central Missouri Rural Dev. Corp.; and the National Council of OEO Locals.[5]
With the passage of the Community Service Act (CSA) in 1975, Congressional reauthorization replaced the OEO with the Community Services Administration (CSA). The new agency retained its independent status as a smaller operating agency.[6][1]
President Ronald Reagan took office in 1981 with campaign promises to shrink social programs and return power to the states.[7] Reagan acted on these promises by signing the Omnibus Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1981, legislation that significantly reduced the federal deficit and funding to antipoverty agencies.[1][8] On September 30, 1981, OBRA transferred functions via the Community Services Block Grant to the states and a small staff in the Office of Community Services in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in Washington, D.C., abolishing the regional offices and approximately 1000 jobs.[6][9] Although CSA was dismantled, most of the agency's programs continued to operate either by HHS or by other federal agencies.[10][1]
In 1986, the Office of Community Service was housed within the HHS Family Support Administration.[6] In 1991, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) was created by merging two HHS agencies: the Office of Human Development Services and the Family Support Administration. With this union, the Office of Community Services became one of ACF's programs.[11]
Native Americans in the United States were among the main beneficiaries of the Office of Economic Opportunity when it was first established. R. Sargent Shriver, then director of the OEO, contacted Dr. James Wilson in 1964 and asked if he would lead a department that solely concentrated on poverty within Indian Country. Dr. Wilson accepted, and after taking the position, began to act as "small 'a' activist" and a "big 'M' Manipulator" to "manipulate the system" of federal government dealings with Native Americans so Indians would eventually gain more political power.[12][editorializing] The OEO prided itself on flexibility and creativity and allowed Native American tribes to receive direct funding.[editorializing] The key OEO institution was the community action program (CAP), bestowed with the unusually energetic congressional mission statement of "a program which mobilizes and utilizes resources... in an attack on poverty."[editorializing] An unofficial allegiance with the National Congress of American Indians gave the OEO political clout that helped pass the CAPs, despite their bitter relationship with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.[editorializing] Tribal CAPs dedicated the largest amount of funding to Head Start for preschoolers and home improvement.[editorializing] Other areas of emphasis included educational development, legal services, health centers, and economic development.[13][editorializing]
One of the greatest accomplishments of the OEO Indian effort took place in Navajo country.[editorializing] The Rough Rock Demonstration School rose from the community's will to give its children education that both respected and integrated Navajo culture and prepared young people for dealings with the majority society.[editorializing] The school was run by Navajo and it became the first wholly Native American–controlled school since the federal government took over the schools of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) in the late 19th century.[editorializing] Rough Rock's success led directly to the creation of the Navajo Community College (now Diné College), the first modern tribal college, and a movement that in time expanded to more than thirty higher education institutions.[13][editorializing]
Although the Office of Economic Opportunity was abolished in 1981, its effects are still being felt today.[editorializing] Its programs have been curtailed or scattered among other federal agencies, particularly the Department of Health and Human Services.[citation needed][editorializing] Many states have adopted an OEO that serves to increase the self-sufficiency of their citizens, strengthen their communities, and eliminate the causes and symptoms of poverty.[14][editorializing]
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).
The war on poverty is the unofficial name for legislation first introduced by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during his State of the Union Address on January 8, 1964. This legislation was proposed by Johnson in response to a national poverty rate of around nineteen percent. The speech led the United States Congress to pass the Economic Opportunity Act, which established the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) to administer the local application of federal funds targeted against poverty. The forty programs established by the Act were collectively aimed at eliminating poverty by improving living conditions for residents of low-income neighborhoods and by helping the poor access economic opportunities long denied from them.
Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. was an American diplomat, politician, and activist. As the husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he was part of the Kennedy family. Shriver was the driving force behind the creation of the Peace Corps, and founded the Job Corps, Head Start, VISTA, Upward Bound, and other programs as the architect of the 1960s War on Poverty. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for vice president in the 1972 presidential election.
Head Start is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and families. It is the oldest and largest program of its kind. The program's services and resources are designed to foster stable family relationships, enhance children's physical and emotional well-being, and establish an environment to develop strong cognitive skills. The transition from preschool to elementary school imposes diverse developmental challenges that include requiring the children to engage successfully with their peers outside the family network, adjust to the space of a classroom, and meet the expectations the school setting provides.
Howard Jay Phillips was an American politician and activist. A political conservative, Phillips was a United States presidential candidate who served as the chairman of The Conservative Caucus, a conservative public policy advocacy group which he founded in 1974. Phillips was a founding member of the U.S. Taxpayers Party, which later became known as the Constitution Party.
Julius Benjamin Richmond was an American pediatrician and public health administrator. He was a vice admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as the United States Surgeon General and the United States Assistant Secretary for Health during the Carter Administration, from 1977 to 1981. Richmond is noted for his role in the creation of the Head Start program for disadvantaged children, serving as its first national director.
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. It has a $49 billion budget for 60 programs that target children, youth and families. 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.
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.
In the United States and its territories, Community Action Agencies (CAA) are local private and public non-profit organizations that carry out the Community Action Program (CAP), which was founded by the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act to fight poverty by empowering the poor as part of the War on Poverty.
The Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) provides federal funding for Community Action Agencies (CAAs) and other programs that seek to address poverty at the community level. Like other block grants, CSBG funds are allocated to the states and other jurisdictions through a formula, with less federal oversight and fewer federal requirements than categorical grants. The CSBG formula determines each jurisdiction's funding level based on poverty population; once disbursed, most of the money is passed by the states and other jurisdictions to CAAs and other designated organizations to be spent on employment, education, income management, housing, nutrition, emergency services, and health.
ACTION was a United States government agency described as "the federal domestic volunteer agency". It was formed July 1, 1971, during President Richard Nixon's first term under the provisions of Reorganization Plan Number One, and Executive Order 11603, June 30, 1971, to provide centralized coordination and administration of Government-sponsored domestic and international volunteer agencies.
The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) is a program office within the United States Department of Health and Human Services established in 1974 through the Native American Programs Act (NAPA).
Native American self-determination refers to the social movements, legislation and beliefs by which the Native American tribes in the United States exercise self-governance and decision-making on issues that affect their own people.
Legal aid in the United States is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system in the United States. In the US, legal aid provisions are different for criminal law and civil law. Criminal legal aid with legal representation is guaranteed to defendants under criminal prosecution who cannot afford to hire an attorney. Civil legal aid is not guaranteed under federal law, but is provided by a variety of public interest law firms and community legal clinics for free or at reduced cost. Other forms of civil legal aid are available through federally-funded legal services, pro bono lawyers, and private volunteers.
The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 authorized the formation of local Community Action Agencies as part of the War on Poverty. These agencies are directly regulated by the federal government. "It is the purpose of The Economic Opportunity Act to strengthen, supplement, and coordinate efforts in furtherance of that policy".
The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) 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. OCSE 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.
The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) is the principal advisory group to the United States Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on policy development and provides coordination and support for HHS's strategic and policy planning, planning and development of legislation, program evaluation, data gathering, policy-related research, and regulatory program.
Jean Camper Cahn was an American lawyer and social activist who helped establish federal financing of legal services to the poor. Cahn was the first director of the National Legal Services Program in the O.E.O. and later founded the Urban Law Institute at George Washington University. In 1971, she co-founded the Antioch School of Law with her husband and law associate Edgar S. Cahn.
Jeannie Hovland is a Santee Dakota Sioux tribal member and an American government official. Hovland serves as the vice chair of the National Indian Gaming Commission and is the director of the Office of Self-Regulation. She was previously the commissioner for the Administration for Native Americans and deputy assistant secretary for Native American affairs.
Herbert J. Kramer was an American speech writer, author, lecturer, and public relations executive. He served in the Lyndon B. Johnson administration as the Director of Public Affairs at the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) which included programs such as Job Corps, Head Start, VISTA, Community Action Program, and Upward Bound as part of the War on Poverty. Kramer established an Audio-Visual division within OEO which was nominated for an Academy Award three times in a row during his tenure, winning the award in 1966.
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