FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, March 27, 2006
Contact: ACF Press Office
(202) 401-9215
Head Start Bureau Gets New Leader
Long-time New Jersey
professional comes to ACF
WASHINGTON, D.C. --- HHS Assistant Secretary for Children and Families Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., today announced that HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt has appointed Channell Wilkins of New Jersey to lead the Head Start Bureau at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).
Wilkins joins ACF from the New Jersey Community Action Association, where he served as Executive Director. Throughout his career in both the public and private sectors, he has worked extensively in human services and helped underserved populations.
“Channell Wilkins is all about community service,” said Dr. Horn. “The Bush Administration has recognized his many talents and looks forward to welcoming him aboard our team so low-income children and families around the country can get the Head Start they need to succeed in life.”
Wilkins is the past president of the board of Trenton Head Start. He has also served as Executive Director of New Jersey’s Department of Human Services, where he worked on new initiatives for child support programs.
His extensive knowledge of community-level programs was developed through his experience as Chief of Senior and Community Services for the Mercer County Department of Human Services in Trenton and his work with the City of Trenton’s Department of Human Services. Wilkins is a graduate of Bucknell University in Pennsylvania and Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Head Start and Early Head Start are comprehensive child development programs that serve children from birth to age five, expectant women and their families. They are child-focused programs with the overall goal of increasing the school readiness of young children in low-income families. With an annual budget of nearly $6.8 billion in the current fiscal year, the programs fund 1,604 local programs serving over 900,000 children and their families.
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news