After more than six years as assistant secretary for children and families at the Department of Health and Human Services, Wade Horn announced Monday he has resigned his position to pursue a career in the private sector.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said Horn’s principled leadership will be missed.
“We commend him for his unwavering commitment to the intact family and abstinence,” Perkins said. “Under his watch, ACF (Administration for Children and Families) has promoted positive, life-changing programs for adolescents, parents and married couples.”
CitizenLink talked with Horn this week about his decision to resign, the legacy he leaves and his plans for the future.
Q. What led you to resign?
A. As a political appointee, I’ve always known that my tenure within the federal government is limited. The average tenure for an assistant secretary is between 18 and 24 months – and I’ve been doing this for over six years now. So it’s just time for me to explore other options.
Q. What is the legacy you’re leaving?
Whatever legacy I leave, it is because of those who work for me – the finest federal employees in the entire federal government. These are people who get up every day and come to work and know that their central mission is to improve the wellbeing of children, youth and families.
I’m very proud of the work we did to re-authorize the 1996 welfare reform legislation which included for the first time the dedicated funds to support responsible fatherhood and healthy marriages.
I’m very pleased that I was able to implement an initiative to provide 100,000 mentors to children whose parents are incarcerated.
I’m very pleased with the implementation of the president’s compassionate capital fund initiative to help build the resources of community- and faith-based organizations so they can expand their ability to do good and to help vulnerable populations.
I feel very good about the work we did regarding reform of the child welfare system. We implemented for the first time a nationwide system to look at child welfare top to bottom from prevention efforts to intervention efforts to foster care to adoption.
I’m also pleased with the work we did regarding the efforts to combat human trafficking.
It’s been an incredible six years, and it’s been a lot of really good work that’s been done.
Q. Now that you’re leaving, will the agency continue the good work it has begun?
The good news is that the people who did the work are still going to be here. The initiatives which have been launched will continue for the rest of the time that this president is in office.
I also think we’ve dug pretty deep roots in a lot of these areas, and these initiatives have garnered a lot of bipartisan support. I don’t think healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood is a Republican or Democratic issue. I don’t think it’s an issue just for liberals or conservatives – it’s an issue for everybody.
The same is true for helping poor families achieve self-sufficiency or helping children with parents who are incarcerated have access to mentors.
Q. Will we still see you working for families?
I’m a child psychologist. That’s what I do; that’s who I am. My professional life is all about improving the well-being of children.
I will continue until the Lord calls me home to dedicate my life to improving things for kids and families.
