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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 24, 2007
Contact: Tara Wall
(202) 401-9215
ACF Announces New Task Force To Help Native American Children
WASHINGTON , D.C. ---The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) today announced the formation of the Native American Children & Youth Task Force.
Native American children and youth are faced with a set of sobering statistics which include the highest death and dropout rates of any racial or ethnic group in the country.
Statistics indicate that nearly half of all Native American children live in single-parent families in communities with high rates of child neglect, alcohol, drug abuse and malnutrition.
Native children whose parents are not employed are at greater risk for living in poverty. Many of these youth lack access to vital health care. They are also 50 percent more likely to be victims of violence than youth of any other race or ethnicity in the U.S. as a whole.
“These statistics paint a dire and disheartening picture of life for many Native American youth. This is an urgent matter that must be addressed with immediacy,” said Daniel Schneider, Acting Assistant Secretary for ACF.
In an attempt to find solutions to these trends, the Native American Children & Youth Task Force will prepare a review of how various, local, state and federal efforts can be improved and coordinated in order to better address the difficulties faced by young members of America’s Native population.
Channell Wilkins, former director of the Office of Head Start, will serve as Chairman of this new task force. Chairman Wilkins brings along a varied career in community service and a history of supporting underserved populations.
“I look forward to addressing these challenging issues affecting our youth,” said Wilkins. “This new task force will aid us in finding solutions that will remediate these alarming trends.”
The Native American Children & Youth Task Force is an internal task force that will be housed in the Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary at ACF
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Note: All ACF news releases, fact sheets and other materials are available at www.acf.hhs.gov/opa/index.html.