Adelup, Sept. 23, 2015 – The Department of Public Health and Social Services and other local government agencies that deal with health and social services will receive more focus from their federal counterparts at Region IX.
On island this week is Robert E. Garcia who is the Regional Administrator for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children & Families (ACF). Garcia is responsible for the executing ACF’s key national goals and priorities in the region.
Mr. Garcia met with the Governor Eddie Baza Calvo yesterday and with members of the Guam Early Learning Council today.
“With every federal official I meet, I want to impress on them the issues we face here,” the Governor told him. They discussed the local government’s efforts to reach out to homeless families, help migrants who come to Guam in search of a better life, and related issues such as human trafficking.
Mr. Garcia said reducing poverty, human trafficking and homelessness are priorities of his office.
“As the senior official for the Administration for Children and Families for Region IX, I’m here to meet with leadership of the Department of Health and Social Services as well as the staff to identify areas where we can collaborate and make our programs more efficient and effective,” he said.
“We realize we have a lot of issues here in the territories and we’re looking to see how we can identify solutions and do it a high level, something that hasn’t necessarily taken place before.”
Mr. Garcia said this visit is the first of many to Guam and the region. For more information about Mr. Garcia and the Administration for Children & Families visit: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/about/leadership/robert-garcia
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