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1994.10.13 :  Office of Family Assistance Director

Contact: Michael Kharfen     (202) 401-9215
Thursday, Oct. 13, 1994

                  LAVINIA LIMON APPOINTED DIRECTOR
                   HHS OFFICE OF FAMILY ASSISTANCE


     HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala announced today that Lavinia
Limon has been appointed as director, Office of Family Assistance in
HHS' Administration for Children and Families.  

     "The success of welfare reform depends on the skill and
determination of dynamic people to change how the welfare office
works for families and children," said Shalala.  "Lavinia Limon is
one to make it happen." 

     OFA is the federal agency that administers the Aid to Families
with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, the nation's largest cash
assistance program, and the Jobs Opportunities and Basic Skills
Training (JOBS) program, which helps people on welfare become self-
sufficient.  

     Ms. Limon has been active in domestic and overseas refugee and
social services programs for over 18 years.  A native of Los
Angeles, Calif., Limon served as executive director of the
International Institute of Los Angeles, a more than $7 million,
community organization that assists immigrants, refugees, and the
foreign-born in achieving economic and social self-sufficiency. 
Limon was director of the International Rescue Committee, Los
Angeles, between 1983 and 1986; and worked with Church World Service
in the mid-'70s.  Since September 1993, Limon has served as the 
director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is also in
ACF.  She will continue serving as ORR director.

     "With the same ingenuity, enthusiasm and compassion Lavinia
brings to helping refugees rebuild their lives, her vision will
restore confidence for both welfare workers and recipients," said
Mary Jo Bane, assistant secretary for children and families.  "Her
important contributions to the President's Welfare Reform Work Group
and ORR make Lavinia the right person at the right time to take on
this new challenge."

     Ms. Limon is a graduate of the University of California at
Berkeley.
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