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GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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| OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS | ONE JUDICIARY SQUARE 441 FOURTH STREET, N.W. SUITE 1100 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20001 (202) 727-6224 |
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MONDAY, APRIL 30, 2001 |
CONTACT: LYDIA SERMONS-WARD (202) 727-5011 |
The appointment of Dr. Golden as Director of the agency marks an important step in the transition of the Child and Family Services Agency out of Federal court receivership and into the District government. The Mayor anticipates that the control of CFSA will be returned by the Federal court to the District government early this summer, after several remaining transition requirements are fulfilled. As it rejoins the government, CFSA will be a Cabinet-level agency with independent personnel, procurement and licensing authority consistent with District law.
The Child and Family Services Agency aims to ensure the safety, permanence and well being of the District's most vulnerable children. The agency is responsible for all traditional child welfare functions within the District of Columbia, including abuse and neglect, foster care and adoptions. CFSA is directly responsible for meeting all federal requirements imposed by the Adoption and Safe Families Act, as well as all other federal regulatory and legal requirements. The agency's more than 700 employees serve approximately 1,500 families with 4,000 children in in-home protective services as well as 2,900 children in foster care.
Olivia A. Golden, Ph.D., joins the District from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she served since 1997 as the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, a President-appointed and Senate-confirmed position. Prior to holding this position, Dr. Golden was the Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families. She has worked with a wide range of stakeholders - state, local, nonprofit, and Congressional - to strengthen the programs that serve vulnerable children and families across the United States.
As Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, Dr. Golden was responsible for a budget of $37 billion, a staff of 1,500, and a mission encompassing a wide array of programs that address the economic well being and healthy development of children and families. These programs include Head Start; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF); child support enforcement; child care; child welfare (child abuse and neglect, foster care, and adoption); and programs focused on the needs of special populations including refugees, and the developmentally disabled. During Dr. Golden's tenure, the ACF worked with state and local partners and other stakeholders to increase adoptions, to increase child support collections, and to enable more than 1 million welfare parents to move into employment, as well as consolidating more than 30 computer grant-making systems into one system.
As Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Dr. Golden oversaw a budget of $9 billion, about 200 employees, and the ACF programs that focus specifically on children. She created the Child Care Bureau, which brought together the various Federal responsibilities for child care under one organization. Dr. Golden was also responsible for creating and implementing Early Head Start, which extends the benefits of Head Start to infants and toddlers, and implementing the 1994 reauthorization of Head Start. She also helped lay the groundwork for the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.
Before joining the Clinton Administration, Dr. Golden served as the Director of Programs and Policy for the Children's Defense Fund, where she was responsible for policy development, advocacy, research and writing; across a range of children's issues. From 1987-1991, Dr. Golden taught public policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Prior to that, Dr. Golden served as the Budget Director for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Human Services.
Dr. Golden is the author of Poor Children and Welfare Reform (1992) as well as several articles on the topics of disadvantaged children and families. She also chaired the Cambridge Advisory Committee on Children and Youth and the North Cambridge Stabilization Committee.
Dr. Golden holds a Master's degree and Ph.D. in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She received her BA in philosophy and government from Harvard University.
"As a former foster child, I am especially pleased to appoint Olivia Golden to lead the transition of the CFSA back into the fold because she is a strong and successful advocate for children," said Mayor Williams.
Dr. Golden will assume the title of Acting Director of the Child and Family Services Agency, effective May 15, 2001. She will assume full operating responsibility for the agency upon termination of the receivership.
| OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS | ONE JUDICIARY SQUARE 441 FOURTH STREET, N.W. SUITE 1100 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20001 (202) 727-6224 |
As Assistant Secretary for Children and Families., Dr. Golden was responsible for a wide array of federal programs in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) that address the economic well-being and healthy development of children and families. These programs include Head Start; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF); child support enforcement; child care; child welfare (child abuse and neglect, foster care, and adoption); and programs focused on the needs of special populations including refugees, and the developmentally disabled. During Dr. Golden's tenure, the ACF worked with state and local partners and other stakeholders to increase adoptions, to increase child support collections, and to enable more than 1 million welfare parents to move into employment, as well as consolidating more than 30 computer grant-making systems into one system.
In her role as Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Dr. Golden oversaw the ACF programs that focus specifically on children. She created the Child Care Bureau, which brought together the various Federal responsibilities for child care under one organization. Dr. Golden was also responsible for creating and implementing Early Head Start, which extends the benefits of Head Start to infants and toddlers, and implementing the 1994 reauthorization of Head Start. She also helped lay the groundwork for the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.
Before joining the Clinton Administration, Dr. Golden served as the Director of Programs and Policy for the Children's Defense Fund, where she was responsible for policy development, advocacy, research and writing across a range of children's issues. From 1987-1991, Dr. Golden was a lecturer in public policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, where she received the Manuel Carballo award for outstanding teaching in 1991. Prior to that, Dr. Golden served as the Budget Director for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Human Services.
Dr. Golden is the author of Poor Children and Welfare Reform (1992) as well as several articles on the topics of disadvantaged children and families. She also chaired the Cambridge Advisory Committee on Children and Youth and the North Cambridge Stabilization Committee.
Dr. Golden holds a Master's degree and Ph.D. in. Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She received her BA in philosophy and government from Harvard University.
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