![]() Kate Wolff, a former Obama administration chief of staff at the refugee office, has also recently rejoined HHS to advise on the issue. The White House has repeatedly refused to characterize the rise of unaccompanied children as a “crisis,” even as border arrivals far surpass prior increases seen during the Obama and Trump administrations.īut Dawn O’Connell, a well-regarded aide to Becerra on the coronavirus response, is now splitting time working on the migrant situation because of her prior experience managing the Obama-era spike in migrant arrivals. “You don’t get to be nominated to be HHS secretary unless you know what’s going on.” “Suggesting he doesn’t have a grasp on the issue … that is not apparent from the inside,” he said, adding that Becerra is deeply engaged and meets several times a day with his senior leadership team to discuss the increase in migrant children at the border. ![]() Mark Weber, an HHS spokesperson, conceded that there have been tensions within the administration over the effort, but disputed criticisms of Becerra‘s role as inaccurate and unfair. Some advocates blamed the decision on the administration’s struggles in processing unaccompanied minors, even though they are handled through a separate system. That scrutiny grew on Friday, after Biden opted to keep in place a historically low cap on refugee admissions. “It’s been a steep learning curve for him.”ĭismayed by the slow progress, the White House has concluded that Becerra’s team needs help organizing care for the rising number of migrant children spread throughout shelters administered by the Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Refugee Resettlement - a population that’s fast approaching 20,000. “He did not fully appreciate the issue when he first came in,” said one senior administration official. ![]() Wolff has an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Kansas and a Master of Public Administration from the University of the District of Columbia.But a month into Becerra’s tenure, officials working on the issue have privately questioned his preparedness for managing such a sprawling emergency - and his willingness to take ownership of a historically intractable and politically divisive problem. Prior to joining the Secretary’s office, Wolff served as senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary for ACF, playing an instrumental role as part of the team responsible for stabilizing the UC program in the wake of unprecedented organizational challenges, resulting in program improvements and ongoing change management efforts to reduce the amount of time children spend in congregate settings. Wolff has also been responsible for interagency negotiations to support Tribal sovereignty and overseeing efforts to distribute infant formula through Operation Fly Formula. Wolff led work on immigration on behalf of HHS, including day-to-day oversight of the Unaccompanied Children’s (UC) program, HHS-wide efforts to support new arrivals, including Ukrainians, Afghans and asylum-seekers, and preparations for the termination of the title 42 Order. Since re-joining HHS Secretary’s office in 2021 as a Counselor, Wolff has continued to move the needle to support HHS’s goals across public health and human services priorities and led complex policy development and implementation, including COVID-related policy in Head Start, as well as engagement with diverse partners, including the disability community, child welfare advocates, and local officials. Through her various roles at HHS, she has demonstrated the ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams, often with competing goals, to solve complex, high-stakes problems. ![]() ![]() Wolff first joined the federal government at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2009, working in a variety of roles in the HHS Secretary’s office, including director of scheduling and advance, before joining the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to help manage the response to the 2014 influx of unaccompanied children, and the first chief of staff for the Office of Refugee Resettlement in 2015. Kate Wolff, MPA, is CDC’s Chief of Staff. Wolff has more than 16 years of experience both inside and outside of government, creating positive organizational outcomes though strong collaboration, effective problem-solving, and crisis management. ![]()
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