Clarence 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 homeless services and prevention, child care services, as well as a wide spectrum of social service programs, including, adult protective services and teen pregnancy prevention.
 
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. During his tenure he guided the program through the provision of the emergency food stamp program for victims of Hurricane Katrina and the changing of the name of the program to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
 
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. His principal accomplishment at OCS was the development of a new construct for the delivery of human services in the United States.
 
Over the past 20 years Clarence Carter has been established as a leader and innovator in the American human services industry having the distinction of being appointed to serve a Presidential administration, three (3) Governors and currently the Mayor of Washington, DC.
 
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. 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 (5) years of the program, more than 25,000 public assistance recipients obtained gainful employment, earning in excess of $200 million.

Mr. Carter has testified before Congress, appeared on several public affairs programs including; Crossfire, and BET’s Our Voices. He has also shared his views on America’s human services challenges before an International assembly