Biography  Department of Human Services Clarence H. Carter

Clarence H. Carter is the Director of the District of Columbia’s Department of Human Services (DHS). He was appointed by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty on July 5, 2007. The Director of the Department of Human Services is a cabinet-level position with responsibility for all income assistance support and related welfare-to-work employment programs.  It also is inclusive of homelessness, child care services, as well as a wide spectrum of social service programs, including, adult protective services and teen pregnancy prevention efforts.
 
Prior to his DHS appointment, Mr. Carter served as the Deputy Administrator for the Food Stamp Program with the United States Department of Agriculture. The Food Stamp Program is the first line of defense against hunger in America.  The $30 billion federal program provides assistance to more than 20 million low-income, elderly and Americans with disabilities in purchasing food.
 
The Food Stamp appointment represented the second leadership position in the Bush Administration; previously Mr. Carter was appointed to serve as Director of the Federal Office of Community Services (OCS).  As the agency's chief executive, he provided the organization with direction and leadership in the provision of community-based services.
 
For the past 20 years, Clarence Carter has had the distinction of being appointed to serve a Presidential administration and with three Governors.  In January 2000, Virginia Governor James S. Gilmore appointed Mr. Carter as the first Executive Director (ED) of the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation.
 
Mr. Carter has also served as Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Social Services. In that capacity he managed a workforce of 1,500 employees with an annual operating budget in excess of $1 billion. The hallmark of his social services tenure was the successful implementation of the Commonwealth's landmark welfare reform initiatives. Fully implemented two years ahead of schedule, the program was instrumental in cutting the public assistance rolls by more than half, from an all time high of 74,000 families receiving AFDC/TANF, to a 30-year low of 31,000. In the first five years of the program, more than 25,000 public assistance recipients obtained gainful employment, earning in excess of $200 million.