The Office of Economic Opportunity was the agency responsible for administering most of the
War on Poverty
The war on poverty is the unofficial name for legislation first introduced by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964. This legislation was proposed by Johnson in response to a national p ...
programs created as part of
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
's
Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States launched by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964–65. The term was first coined during a 1964 commencement address by President Lyndon B. Johnson at the University ...
legislative agenda. It was established in 1964 as an independent agency and renamed the Community Services Administration in 1975. In 1981, it was moved into the
Department of Health and Human Services
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is " ...
as the
Office of Community Services
The Office of Community Services (OCS) is a division of the US Executive Branch under the Administration for Children and Families within the Department of Health and Human Services. It is the direct successor of the Office of Economic Opportuni ...
, with most of its programs continuing to operate.
History
Independent agency
The office was created through the efforts of
R. Sargent Shriver
Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. (November 9, 1915 – January 18, 2011) was an American diplomat, politician, and activist. As the husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he was part of the Kennedy family. Shriver was the driving force behind the creation ...
, who also served as its first director. Programs such as
VISTA
Vista usually refers to a distant view.
Vista may also refer to:
Software
*Windows Vista, the line of Microsoft Windows client operating systems released in 2006 and 2007
*VistA, (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) ...
,
Job Corps
Job Corps is a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers free education and vocational training to young men and women ages 16 to 24.
Mission and purpose
Job Corps' mission is to help young people ages 16 throug ...
,
Community Action Program
In the United States and its territories, Community Action Agencies (CAA) are local private and public non-profit organizations that carry out the Community Action Program (CAP), which was founded by the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act to fight pov ...
, and
Head Start (though that program was later transferred to the
Department of Health, Education and Welfare
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is " ...
) were all administered by the OEO. It was established in 1964, but quickly became a target of both left-wing and right-wing critics of the
War on Poverty
The war on poverty is the unofficial name for legislation first introduced by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964. This legislation was proposed by Johnson in response to a national p ...
.
President
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
's appointment of
Howard Phillips as
Acting
Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode.
Acting involves a broad r ...
Director of OEO in January 1973 touched off a national controversy culminating in a court case in the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District of ...
(''Williams v. Phillips'', 482 F.2d 669) challenging the legality of Phillips' appointment. The Court found Phillip's appointment to have been illegal because it failed to meet the statutory circumstances which enabled appointment of an interim director without Senate confirmation; this judgement was upheld on appeal.
President Nixon's attempt to impound appropriated funds for OEO was ruled unconstitutional by Judge William B. Jones on April 11, 1973, in a case brought by Local 2677, AFGE; West Central Missouri Rural Dev. Corp.; and the National Council of OEO Locals.
Reauthorization in 1975 changed the name to the Community Services Administration (CSA) but retained the agency's independent status.
Department of Health and Human Services
On September 30, 1981, the
Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1981
Omnibus may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Omnibus'' (film)
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* ''Omnibus'' (UK TV series), an arts-based documentary programme
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transferred functions via the Community Services Block Grant to the states and a small staff in the Office of Community Services in the
Deptartment of Health and Human Services (HHS) in Washington, and abolished the regional offices along with some 1000 jobs.
Most of the agency's programs continued to operate either by HHS or by other federal agencies.
In 1986, it became part of the HHS Family Support Administration,
which in 1991 became the
Administration for Children and Families
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Children and Families. It has a $49 billi ...
.
Impact on Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Americans, and other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the mainland United States ( Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, Alaska and territories of the United State ...
were among the main beneficiaries of the Office of Economic Opportunity when it was first established.
R. Sargent Shriver
Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. (November 9, 1915 – January 18, 2011) was an American diplomat, politician, and activist. As the husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he was part of the Kennedy family. Shriver was the driving force behind the creation ...
, then director of the OEO, contacted Dr. James Wilson in 1964 and asked if he would lead a department that solely concentrated on poverty within Indian Country. Dr. Wilson accepted, and after taking the position, began to act as "small 'a' activist" and a "big 'M' Manipulator" to "manipulate the system" of federal government dealings with Native Americans so Indians would eventually gain more political power. The OEO prided itself on flexibility and creativity and allowed Native American tribes to receive direct funding. The key OEO institution was the community action program (CAP), bestowed with the unusually energetic congressional
mission statement
A mission statement is a short statement of why an organization exists, what its overall goal is, the goal of its operations: what kind of product or service it provides, its primary customers or market, and its geographical region of operation ...
of "a program which mobilizes and utilizes resources... in an attack on poverty." An unofficial allegiance with the National Congress of American Indians gave the OEO political clout that helped pass the CAPs, despite their bitter relationship with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Tribal CAPs dedicated the largest amount of funding to Head Start for preschoolers and home improvement. Other areas of emphasis included educational development, legal services, health centers, and economic development.
One of the greatest accomplishments of the OEO Indian effort took place in Navajo country. The Rough Rock Demonstration School rose from the community's will to give its children education that both respected and integrated Navajo culture and prepared young people for dealings with the majority society. The school was run by Navajo and it became the first wholly Native American–controlled school since the federal government took over the schools of the
Five Civilized Tribes
The term Five Civilized Tribes was applied by European Americans in the colonial and early federal period in the history of the United States to the five major Native American nations in the Southeast—the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek ...
of
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
(now Oklahoma) in the late 19th century. Rough Rock's success led directly to the creation of the
Navajo Community College (now Diné College), the first modern tribal college, and a movement that in time expanded to more than thirty higher education institutions.
[
The OEO projects injected Indian country with confidence and determination and brought many benefits, but the generalized gifts of leadership and tribal control proved equally enduring. Although many problems were encountered along the way, more than a thousand Indian people, never before given the chance to assume major responsibilities, took the reins of OEO projects and then moved into leadership positions in the tribal councils, national and regional Indian organizations, and federal and state offices. Native Americans had finally been given the power to either succeed or fail.
Although the Office of Economic Opportunity was abolished in 1981, its effects are still being felt today. Its programs have been curtailed or scattered among other federal agencies, particularly the ]Department of Health and Human Services
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is " ...
. Many states have adopted an OEO that serves to increase the self-sufficiency of their citizens, strengthen their communities, and eliminate the causes and symptoms of poverty.
Directors, 1964–1981
*R. Sargent Shriver
Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. (November 9, 1915 – January 18, 2011) was an American diplomat, politician, and activist. As the husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he was part of the Kennedy family. Shriver was the driving force behind the creation ...
1964–1968
*Bertrand Harding 1968–1969
*Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and again from 2001 to 2006 under Presi ...
1969–1971
* Frank C. Carlucci 1971–1972
*Philip V. Sanchez 1972–1973
* Howard Phillips (acting) 1973–1973
*Arvin J. Arnett 1973–1974
*Bert A. Gallegos 1974–1976
*Samuel Martinez 1976–1977
*Graciela Olivarez
Graciela Gil Olivárez (March 9, 1928 – September 19, 1987) was a lawyer and advocate for civil rights and for the poor.
When Olivárez's family moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1944, she dropped out of high school and then proceeded to hold a posi ...
1977–1981
Notes
{{Lyndon B. Johnson
Defunct agencies of the United States government
Great Society programs
United States federal Indian policy
1964 in economics
1964 establishments in the United States
1981 disestablishments in the United States