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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Contact: Kenneth J. Wolfe
(202) 401-9215
Sheila K. Cooper To Chair Native American Children and Youth Task Force
WASHINGTON, DC - The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the selection of Sheila K. Cooper as chairman of the Native American Children and Youth Task Force.
The task force was established to address the difficulties encountered by Native American youth. As chairman, Sheila will continue the important work of identifying the challenges facing Native American youth, finding gaps in services and working to better align all available resources to yield the greatest opportunities possible.
“As a former teacher and lifelong advocate for Native American youth and communities, Sheila brings a distinguished history of service and passion to this important position,” said Daniel Schneider, acting assistant secretary for ACF. “I look forward to the great work she will do on behalf of this critically vulnerable population.”
Nearly half of all Native American children live in single-parent families in communities with high rates of child neglect, malnutrition and alcohol and drug abuse.
Additionally, Native American 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 United States, and have the highest death and dropout rates of any racial or ethnic group in the country.
“I am committed to continuing the essential work of the task force to confront these problems,” said Cooper. “Finding solutions to address these alarming trends will ensure a brighter tomorrow for these struggling communities.”
Sheila is an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians. She will bring extensive experience as the current director of program operations within the Administration for Native Americans and as a liaison to the Inter-Departmental Council on Native American Affairs in moving the agenda of the task force forward. The Native American Children and Youth Task Force is housed at ACF.
For more information about ACF, visit www.acf.hhs.gov.
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Note: All ACF news releases, fact sheets and other materials are available at www.acf.hhs.gov/opa/index.html.