Statement on the Office of Economic Opportunity.

WE LIVE in an exciting and difficult time. We possess great strength and skill; yet we are often unable to harness our strength in the service of our ideals. We sense new possibilities for unlocking the full potential of every individual; yet our institutions too often are unresponsive to our needs. We dream of what we might be able to make of our society; but we have not yet learned to achieve that dream.

Our Nation will attain its social objectives, I believe, only if we develop a new spirit of adventure in their pursuit. We must become pioneers in reshaping our society even as we have become pioneers in space. We must show a new willingness to take risks for progress, a new readiness to try the untried.

Such an innovative spirit should characterize all of our institutions and all agencies of Government. But it is in the Office of Economic Opportunity that social pioneering should be a specialty. It is the OEO that should act as the "R and D" [research and development] arm for Government's social programs.

When I sent a message to the Congress on OEO last February, I offered several preliminary comments about the agency. Since that time, the new Director of the Office has made a thorough review of its operations. On the basis of our discussions, I have reached a number of further conclusions about the direction of OEO and the way it does its work.

The following are among the specific changes in OEO which I am announcing today:

--Creation of a new Office of Program Development.

--Revamping and strengthening the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation.

--Strengthening and upgrading the Office of Health Services and the Office of Legal Services.

--Creation of a new Office of Program Operations to improve the administration of activities in the field.

These and other specific changes, in turn, are based on a number of general principles which will help set new directions for OEO.

GETTING NEW DIRECTIONS

It has been said frequently in the past few weeks that if our country can marshal resources so effectively that we can travel to the moon, then we should also use our power and knowledge to better advantage in solving social problems on our own planet. I share this view. But if we are to make a better response to social challenges, then we will have to act with the same clear commitment to well-defined goals, the same freedom to undertake bold experiments, the same managerial discipline, and the same spirit of teamwork that has characterized our accomplishments in space.

A Clear Commitment. This administration believes that every American should have the opportunity to participate in our Nation's economic life to the full extent of his abilities. The Office of Economic Opportunity will make this objective its highest priority. It will address itself to unanswered and difficult questions: What determines an individual's capacity for growth and achievement? What can be done to awaken this capacity and develop it? How can we be sure that these capacities, when they are available, will be fully used and properly rewarded?

It is important that OEO concentrate its energies on causes rather than symptoms, that it help people become productive participants in the economy rather than focusing on the conduct of income support or other ameliorative activities. These latter functions should belong instead to efforts such as the new family assistance program, a revised unemployment compensation system, improved plans for food distribution, and various benefit payment programs.

We see today a healthy determination on the part of our people to continuously examine and update national priorities so that the energy and resources of our country can be properly allocated to solve domestic problems. But our people have also learned that the challenge of bringing unproductive people into active economic roles is more difficult than many had thought. We know now that the amount of money we spend in this effort will mean little unless the approach is right. The Office of Economic Opportunity will help us develop needed new approaches to this problem. It will translate our general commitment to provide full opportunity to all Americans into specific programs which will help us use our resources to the greatest effect.

Bold Experimentation. The freedom to try out a wide variety of ideas, to test them fully both in theory and in practice, to move boldly on several fronts, to thoroughly master and carefully apply the results of this experimental process--these are capacities which are as instrumental to social progress as they are to advances in science.

Since OEO is to be the cutting edge by means of which government moves into unexplored areas, the experimental temper will be vital to its success. The agency should marshal the most creative minds in the country, both to ask new questions and find new answers. It should be free to take creative risks. It should set up a variety of demonstration projects, carefully test their effectiveness, and systematically assess the results.

Just as NASA developed weather satellites and communication satellites and then spun them off, transferring them to the Department of Commerce and to Com-Sat, so OEO should concentrate on the experimental stage of domestic programs. When a program has proven successful in the domestic area, it too may be transferred to other agencies or other levels of the government or even to the private sector if that seems desirable. This approach will leave OEO free to break still newer ground.

Managerial Discipline. Too often the lines of responsibility in OEO programs have been badly blurred; too often there has been no method for determining whether a program has succeeded or failed and what is responsible for failure and success. Too often the same individuals or groups, at both the national and local level, have found themselves wearing many hats: coordinating old programs, doing new research, setting up demonstration projects, evaluating results, and serving as advocates before the government on behalf of the poor. Precisely because each of these functions is important, each should be assigned to specific offices wherever that is possible, and they, in turn, should be held strictly accountable for the way in which their work is performed.

A Spirit of Teamwork. Finally, our social programs will require a greater sense of common endeavor among our people. Close cooperation between the private sector and government, for example, can be a key in assisting the economically disadvantaged as it has been a key to success in space. Moreover, we should be certain that the fears or suspicions which sometimes separate races or economic groups are diminished by our activities and not accentuated. We must avoid words and actions which drive people apart and emphasize instead the common stake of all Americans in extending economic opportunity.

These are some of the new directions which will define the scope of OEO and give new focus to its work. The specific organizational reforms we are making in the agency will help us move in these new directions; they will make OEO a stronger and more flexible instrument in the struggle for human dignity.

SPECIFIC REFORMS

1. Office of Program Development. This new unit will be responsible for most of the experimental efforts which OEO will now emphasize and will include within it both totally new programs and some existing activities which previously were distributed throughout the agency. The Office of Program Development will seek new ways of bringing services to the poor, helping them to increase their skills, educate their children, improve their homes, protect their health, and develop their communities. It will try to find new methods of increasing their business and employment opportunities.

2. Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation. The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation will be reorganized and strengthened. Reporting straight to the Director, it will have responsibility for reviewing existing social programs, for comparing the results of projects with the objectives which have been set for them, for commenting on the adequacy with which both programs and objectives are formulated, and for recommending alterations in existing programs as well as new experiments. It will seek to establish more precise standards for measuring performance than OEO has used in the past. The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation will provide a regular source for that independent appraisal of Federal social programs which often is not available at present.

3. Office of Health Services. A strengthened Office of Health Services will also report directly to the Director of OEO. Many of the problems of the poor are the product of ill health and many have serious medical consequences. We have already begun to develop new mechanisms for helping the poor pay medical costs. But now we must further improve our methods of delivering health services so that all the poor will have ready access to doctors, diagnosis, treatment, and hospital care. The Neighborhood Health Center program is one experimental effort which is working in this direction; OEO will initiate other activities in this area. The 1970 budget will also show increases in food and nutrition programs, family planning services, and other health related activities.

4. Office of Legal Services. The Office of Legal Services will also be strengthened and elevated so that it reports directly to the Director. It will take on central responsibility for programs which help provide advocates for the poor in their dealings with social institutions. The sluggishness of many institutions--at all levels of society--in responding to the needs of individual citizens is one of the central problems of our time. Disadvantaged persons in particular must be assisted so that they fully understand the lawful means of making their needs known and having those needs met. This goal will be better served by a separate Legal Services program, one which can test new approaches to this important challenge.

5. Office of Program Operations. More attention must be given to the way in which OEO policies are carried out at the local, State, and regional level. A new Office of Program Operations will work to improve the quality of field operations; it will be able to define more clearly the purposes for which grants and contracts are given and to apply higher standards of effective management. Training and technical assistance funds for those who run OEO-supported programs will be increased. We also plan to raise allocations to State Economic Opportunity offices.

It is particularly important that the management of community action agencies be improved. The goals of community action are desirable ones and the work of these agencies deserves our support. Unfortunately, many of these local agencies have suffered from a proliferation of duties and from a confusion of roles. While some progress has been made in correcting these problems, the activities of community action agencies must be further clarified and such agencies must more clearly assign priorities among their various functions.

One of the important strengths of the community action program has been its ability to involve local citizens in planning and carrying out its projects. This value should not be lost. Community organizations, close to the people, can play an important role in delivering government programs on a local and individual level.

OTHER PROGRAMS

Following the belief that the Office of Economic Opportunity should be an innovative agency, this administration has already moved the Job Corps to the Department of Labor and the Head Start program to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. In addition, I am suggesting in my manpower training proposals that several OEO-funded manpower programs which have been administered by the Department of Labor be transferred to that Department. These are on-going programs which have passed the trial stage and should now be seen as parts of our established manpower strategy.

Some proven programs which are national in scope should, however, remain in OEO because they can help us develop new experiments and because of the agency's special identification with the problems of the poor. The VISTA program is one example; it will make a greater effort to attract people with specific technical and professional skills to its ranks.

Mankind is presently entering a new era of exploration and fulfillment. We are able to move beyond the limits which once confined us, both in our travels beyond this planet and in our efforts to shape our life upon it. Now we must use this ability to explore on earth, as we have explored in space, with intelligence and courage, recognizing always how little we really know and how far we still must go.

I believe that the goal of full economic opportunity for every American can be realized. I expect the Office of Economic Opportunity to play a central role in that achievement. With new organizational structures, new operating procedures, and a new sense of precision and direction, OEO can be one of the most creative and productive offices in the government. For here much of our social pioneering will be done. Here will begin many of our new adventures.