Episode # 23: ACF Assistant Secretary Alex Adams
Welcome to our latest edition of WonkCast: People Power Policy.
ACF Assistant Secretary Alex Adams has moved quickly in six months on the job.
He’s rapidly advanced initiatives, reshaped oversight processes, and pushed on the edges of what’s permissible and possible in federal child welfare policy.
Our conversation dug into the tradeoffs underneath his decisions, exploring how they’ve shaped his actual understanding and use of federal power across ACF’s:
Rollout of the A Home for Every Child initiative;
Incentives, and looming pressure, for states over Social Security survivor benefits;
Push to expand the reach of the Family First Prevention Services Act; and more.
At the center of his strategy is a big bet that policy durability comes not from encoding it into regulation but making it too hard to unwind through buy-in.
This is essential for understanding what the first six months signal for what’s ahead.
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