Trump Administration Names New Leadership at ACF and the Children’s Bureau

President Trump has nominated Alex Adams, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, to lead the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

According to his bio: “Dr. Adams has placed a strong emphasis on child welfare, with a strategic focus on prevention and keeping children safe and thriving with their families. He worked with the Idaho State Legislature to enact laws to extend foster care to age 23, allow kin-specific licensing standards, and enhance time to permanency. Dr. Adams teamed up with Governor Little to announce paid family leave for state employees who serve as foster parents and opened an Office of Faith Initiatives to advance the department’s child welfare goals. He closed the final short-term rental for foster youth in November 2024 and has grown the number of licensed foster homes in the state at record rates.”

“In under one year at the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, he completely transformed and improved Idaho’s child welfare system to better serve our state’s most vulnerable children and the generous foster families who care for them,” Idaho Governor Brad Little said in a statement.

If confirmed by the Senate, Adams will replace Andrew Gradison, who is currently serving as the acting head of ACF. Senate confirmation for the position may take up to a year, so Gradison is expected to continue in his current position until then. Gradison previously served on the Republican staff of both the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate HELP Committee, where he worked on a variety of child welfare-related issues, including Title IV-B, TANF, and SSBG.

Career staffers are currently serving in other key child welfare leadership positions in an acting capacity. They include Joe Bock, who is serving as acting commissioner of the Children's Bureau, a position previously held by Aysha Schomburg under President Biden. Cheri Hoffman is serving as Acting Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), a position previously held by Rebecca Jones Gaston under President Biden.