About

What We Do

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) administers several key federal grant programs, including the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and the Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (Tribal TANF) program, Native Employment Works, Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood, and Health Profession Opportunity Grants. Read more about what we do.

Leadership

Dr. Earl Johnson is the current Director of OFA. Widely known for his work in TANF policy development, Johnson is an expert in needy family issues. As a senior policy advisor to the mayor of Oakland, CA, he set policy and program goals for the city in the areas of workforce, health and urban affairs. In addition, Johnson worked with the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships on responsible fatherhood initiatives.

Prior to his work in the Oakland Mayor’s Office, Johnson served as senior program officer for The California Endowment, a private statewide health foundation, as associate director for the Working Communities for the Rockefeller Foundation, and as associate secretary for planning and evaluation in the California Health and Human Services Agency.

Johnson graduated from the American University in Washington, D.C., earned a Master of Arts in public policy from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in social welfare from the University of California.