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1994.03.08 : Appointment of Associate Commissioner of the Head Start Bureau

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                   Contact:  Bill McPherrin
Tuesday, March 8, 1994                            (202) 401-9215


     HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala has announced the appointment
of Helen Hollingshed Taylor as associate commissioner of the Head
Start Bureau in the department's Administration for Children and
Families.

     As associate commissioner, Ms. Taylor will administer a $3.3
billion program which currently serves over 721,000 pre-school
children of low-income families with a comprehensive program to 
meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional and psychological
needs. 

     "Helen Taylor brings to the Head Start Bureau a career that
has been devoted to strengthening America's children and their
families," said Secretary Shalala.  "Helen is a seasoned, hands-on
professional who knows Head Start from the perspective of being a
Head Start director for over 14 years."

     Prior to her appointment as associate commissioner, Ms. Taylor
was the executive director of the National Child Day Care
Association in Washington, D.C.  In that capacity, she administered
a model Head Start and child care program serving over 1,200
children from low-income families.

     "I am proud that Helen Taylor has joined this administration's
commitment to expand and improve one of the most successful
government programs ever enacted," said Mary Jo Bane, HHS assistant
secretary for children and families.  "Helen's hands-on experience
in both Head Start and child care and her history of building 
linkages between early childhood programs and the schools are
exactly the types of experience that is needed to bring Head Start
into the 21st century as a program which meets the changing needs 
of America's children and their families."

     Before assuming the directorship of the National Day Care
Association, Ms. Taylor served the association in various
capacities, including preschool project director, program director
and social worker. 

     Taylor is a member of numerous organizations which advocate on
behalf of and with America's children and families, including the
National Advisory Committee on Head Start Quality and Expansion,
the National Head Start Association, the National Association for
the Education of Young Children, the National Academy of Early
Childhood Education and the National Black Child Development
Institute.

     She has received numerous awards and honors, including
Outstanding Young Woman of America in 1977 and the World Who's Who
of Women in 1986.  Ms. Taylor is also a member of Alpha Kappa 
Delta, the National Sociology Honor Society. 

     A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Ms. Taylor holds a bachelor of
arts degree from Howard University and a master's degree in early
childhood education from Catholic University, Washington, D.C.