Wade F. Horn
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Wade F. Horn is an American psychologist who received unanimous confirmation (under President George W. Bush) in 2001 as the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families. Before his resignation on April 1, 2007, he oversaw the function of the Administration For Children and Families, an agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. He also served under President George H. W. Bush as Commissioner of Children, Youth, and Families within the Administration For Children and Families.
Horn represents a key advocate for the re-envisioning and re-vising of the Federal Head Start program. A key proponent for family involvement in education, Horn served as president of the National Fatherhood Initiative. Horn is also a strong advocate for "abstinence education."
He received his Ph.D. in 1981 from Southern Illinois University. He served as an assistant professor of psychology at Michigan State University and was an affiliate scholar at the right-wing think tank, The Hudson Institute.
Secretary Leavitt praised Wade Horn for his leadership, citing his actions to "significantly improved the lives of vulnerable children and strengthened the American family as he led the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) for the past six years."
He continued, "Under Wade’s leadership, we passed and implemented the next chapter of welfare reform, launched the first-ever healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood grants, began outreach to victims of human trafficking, helped increase the number of adoptions in America, connected children of prisoners with mentors, and created a strong partnership with faith-based organizations."
He also stated, "Wade and ACF played an especially important role in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita by making sure victims, uprooted from their homes and livelihoods, were quickly connected with the benefits they needed."
[edit] Criticism
Horn has been widely criticized by Planned Parenthood and other sexual health education organizations for his advocation of abstinence programs for adults up to 29 years old. [1], [2]. During his term with HHS, he oversaw a dramatic increase in funding for this abstinence education, which exceeded $200 million a year at the time of his resignation[3], [4]. Under Horn's direction, these programs were proven to contain misinformation regarding contraceptives, HIV and pregnancy, and were also notably 100% ineffective for their stated purpose and siphoned funding intended for effective family planning and sexual education.[5][6][7]
[edit] References
- ^ Abstinence message goes beyond teens - USATODAY.com
- ^ Wade F. Horn
- ^ http://news.bostonherald.com/politics/view.bg?articleid=192378
- ^ abstinence_report.doc
- ^ Advocates for Youth
- ^ Trends in Sexual Risk Behaviors among High School Students - United States, 1991 to 1997 and 1999 to 2003
- ^ abstinence_report.doc
[edit] Source
- US Department of Health & Human Service.
