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1994.10.18 : SSA Policy and Public Affairs Official

Contact:  Phil Gambino or Tom Margenau    410-965-8904
Tuesday, Oct. 18, 1994

          SSA POLICY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICIAL ANNOUNCED

     Carolyn Colvin, a former member of Maryland Governor William
Donald Schaefer's cabinet, has been selected to oversee the Social
Security Administration's policy and public affairs departments. 
Her appointment as deputy commissioner for policy and external
affairs was recently announced by Health and Human Services
Secretary Donna E. Shalala and Commissioner of Social Security
Shirley Chater.

     Ms. Colvin has spent 19 years in the administration,
development and financial management of several agencies and
programs for the City of Baltimore and the state of Maryland.  In
1989, Governor Schaefer appointed her to serve as secretary of the
Maryland Department of Human Resources where she managed a one
billion dollar budget and directed 7,000 employees.  In that role,
Ms. Colvin implemented the first program in the country to tie the
receipt of cash benefits to preventive health care and education. 
She also spearheaded a plan that calls for all Maryland welfare
checks and support payments to be made electronically.

     At SSA, Ms. Colvin will be primarily responsible for developing
policy and directing the agency's external affairs programs.  In
addition to her policymaking duties, she will be in charge of
liaison activities with Congress, with state and local governments,
and with outside groups and organizations that have an interest in
Social Security.  She also will direct SSA's public information and
statistical gathering operations.  

     Citing several awards Ms. Colvin has won for her managerial
expertise and creativity, Secretary Shalala said, "Ms. Colvin brings
the kind of skills and abilities to SSA that will help lead the
agency into the 21st century."  

     Commissioner Chater will also look to her newest deputy to help
change people's attitudes about the largest of all federal benefit
programs.  "Rebuilding the American people's confidence in Social
Security is one of my highest priorities," she said.  "And I expect
Ms. Colvin to play a key role in carrying out this important
initiative."  

     Ms. Colvin is a graduate of Morgan State University in
Baltimore and received her master's in business administration from
the same school.  She also completed the Senior Executives in State
and Local Government Program at Harvard University.  

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