Lynn Johnson, President Trump’s choice to lead the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the Department of Health and Human Services, is scheduled for next Tuesday morning at 10 a.m.
Lynn Johnson, Trump nominee to lead the Administration for Children and Families.
The Senate Finance Committee, led by Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), will hold the confirmation hearing.
Johnson is the executive director of the Jefferson County Department of Human Services. The county sits just outside of the Denver area, and its hub is Golden, Colo., the headquarters of the Coors Brewing Company.
Johnson came to Jefferson County from the statehouse, where she served as chief of staff to former Lieutenant Gov. Jane Norton (R). Johnson also served as deputy director for policy and as a human services policy adviser for former Colorado Governor Bill Owens (R).
Trump nominated Johnson in the summer of 2017. Last week, he nominated Elizabeth Darling to serve as commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF), which is one of the agencies within the ACF umbrella. ACF also oversees Head Start, child support enforcement, the Temporary Assistance for Need Families (TANF) program and several other family services-related agencies.
Johnson and Darling would enter the top child welfare jobs at HHS as the agency prepares for a dramatic shift in Title IV-E, an entitlement program that currently reimburses states for costs related to foster care and adoption assistance. The Family First Act, which became law last month, will make more front-end services reimbursable through IV-E in the hopes of preventing the need for foster care in some maltreatment cases. It will also limit federal reimbursement for placements of foster youth into congregate care.
The committee will also consider the nomination of John Bartrum to lead the financial management division at HHS. The office oversees legal compliance, budget justification and grants management for the agency. Bartrum was a partner at the Squire Patton Boggs law firm, and before that spent most of his career in federal government, including stints at the House Appropriations Committee, the National Institutes of Health, and the Office of Management and Budget.
