New Commissioner for the Administration on
Children, Youth and Families
Olivia A. Golden, Ph.D., was sworn in as the Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families on November 22, 1993. As Commissioner, she oversees a broad range of programs for children and families, including Head Start, child welfare programs, child care, youth programs, and the new family preservation and family support services programs.
Olivia Golden brings to the position a wealth of experience in issues of importance to children and families, having served in State government, academia, and a national children's advocacy organization. Immediately before her appointment as Commissioner, Golden was Director of Programs and Policy for the Children's Defense Fund in Washington, D.C., where she was responsible for the development and direction of the organization's policy and research agendas across the range of children's issues. Prior to that, she served as Lecturer in Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. There her teaching and research focused on child and family policy, employment and training policy, and public management. From 1983-85, Golden served as the Budget Director for the Executive Office of Human Services in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Golden is the author of a recently published book, Poor Children and Welfare Reform (Auburn House Press, 1992), as well as several papers and a journal article. Her research has focused on the way services work for real people, including issues of innovation, collaboration, and effective service delivery for children and families.
"Everything real in child and family services happens at the service delivery level where a Head Start teacher reads to a child or listens to a parent," notes Golden. "All the rest of us are support staff."
Golden sees the role of the Federal government as one of support, partnership, and leadership. "I look forward to working in partnership with the Head Start community to help respond to the needs of today's children and families and to empower them to achieve self-sufficiency."
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