The Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) was the agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs created as part of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society legislative agenda. It was established in 1964 as an independent agency and renamed the Community Services Administration (CSA) in 1975.
The Richard Nixon administration made an unsuccessful effort to dismantle the agency in the 1970s.[1] The agency was dismantled in 1981 by the Ronald Reagan administration, as it was moved into the Department of Health and Human Services as the Office of Community Services, with most of its programs continuing to operate.
The Office of Economic Opportunity was created through the efforts of President Lyndon Johnson in his War on Poverty campaign, which aimed to tackle economic and racial inequality. In 1964, Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act, the legislative keystone for this campaign that provided funding for the OEO as a new agency within the Office of the President. R. Sargent Shriver served as its first director.[2] The Office administered antipoverty programs such as VISTA, Job Corps, Community Action Program, and Head Start, and it quickly became a target of both left-wing and right-wing critics of the war on poverty legislation.
President Richard Nixon's appointment of Howard Phillips as Acting 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 (Williams v. Phillips, 482 F.2d 669)[3] challenging the legality of Phillips' appointment. The Court found Phillips's appointment illegal because it failed to meet the statutory circumstances enabling the appointment of an interim director without Senate confirmation as required by the U.S. Constitution. This judgment was upheld on appeal.[4]
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.[5]
With the passage of the Community Service Act (CSA) in 1975, Congressional reauthorization replaced the OEO with the Community Services Administration (CSA). The new agency retained its independent status as a smaller operating agency.
See main article: Office of Community Services. President Ronald Reagan took office in 1981 with campaign promises to shrink social programs and return power to the states.[6] Reagan acted on these promises by signing the Omnibus Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1981, legislation that significantly reduced the federal deficit and funding to antipoverty agencies.[7] On September 30, 1981, OBRA transferred functions via the Community Services Block Grant to the states and a small staff in the Office of Community Services in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in Washington, D.C., abolishing the regional offices and approximately 1000 jobs.[8] [9] Although CSA was dismantled, most of the agency's programs continued to operate either by HHS or by other federal agencies.[10]
In 1986, the Office of Community Service was housed within the HHS Family Support Administration. In 1991, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) was created by merging two HHS agencies: the Office of Human Development Services and the Family Support Administration. With this union, the Office of Community Services became one of ACF's programs.[11]
Native Americans in the United States were among the main beneficiaries of the Office of Economic Opportunity when it was first established. R. Sargent Shriver, 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.[12] 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 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.[13]
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 of Indian Territory (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.[13]
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. 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.[14]