Administration for Children and Families
Topics on this page: Summary of Activities that Continue | Summary of Contingency Staffing Plan
Summary of Activities that Continue
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) will continue care of children in, and referrals to, the Unaccompanied Alien Children program. ACF will also continue work to support disaster recovery funded by supplemental disaster appropriations. Head Start and other social services programs will continue previously funded operations.
ACF programs including Head Start and the Child Care and Development Block Grant will continue previously funded operations to support families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Supplemental funding for ACF programs under the CARES Act has been distributed to grantees during FY 2020 and would not be impacted by a lapse in appropriations.
Summary of Contingency Staffing Plan
In the event of a lapse of appropriations, 549 (39%) of ACF staff will be retained including 509 (36%) who are exempt (their activities or position are already funded or otherwise exempted) and 40 (3%) who are excepted (their activities are deemed necessary by implication, or for the safety of human life or protection of property).
Exempt Staff:
A total of 509 (36%) ACF staff will be exempt. Exempt ACF staff include three HHS Officers appointed by the President and 444 staff who support activities that have funding available during a lapse in appropriations.
ACF will continue operations to support funded programs, including issuance and management of grant and contract awards. Key activities to continue include operation of the Unaccompanied Alien Children program and management of disaster recovery work.
Excepted Staff:
A total of 40 (3%) ACF staff are considered excepted and can legally continue their activities in the absence of appropriations. These staff fall into three categories; 1) those whose work is necessary for the safety of human life, 2) those whose work is necessary for the protection of property, and 3) those whose work is "necessarily implied" from the authorized continuation of other activities or the need to phase down and suspend operations.
The activities that ACF will continue include administration of funded programs to ensure timely payments to grantees and contractors, and performing minimal timekeeping and budgetary operations to ensure an orderly phase down. All active disaster response operations or deployments that are ensuring the safety of human lives will continue regardless of current funding source. Staff in the ACF Office of the Chief Information Officer will also be excepted to ensure the maintenance and protection of ACF computer systems. ACF has two Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Officers will continue working under this exception.
