The “alphabet soup” of government acronyms is a well-known frustration — both among the public we serve and federal employees. This page helps you avoid confusion with a break down of acronyms and abbreviations commonly used by the Administration for Children and Families.
The difference between acronyms and abbreviations
Abbreviations are any shortened or contracted word or phrase. For example, writing St. instead of Street, or Rx for prescription, or D.C. for District of Columbia. Acronyms are a type of abbreviation. They shorten phrases in a specific way— using parts of the initial word or phrase (usually letters) to form an abbreviation. For example, DIY or ASAP.
Technically, there is a difference between acronyms (abbreviations pronounced as words, like NASA) and initialisms (abbreviations pronounced as letters, like FBI) but to keep things simple, we refer to both as acronyms since “acronym” is the more common term.
Office Names
| OFFICE ACRONYM | FULL NAME/SPANISH TRANSLATION |
|---|---|
| ACF | Administration for Children and Families Administración para los Niños y las Familias |
| ANA | Administration for Native Americans Administración para los Nativos Americanos |
| ACYF | Administration on Children, Youth and Families Administración para los Niños, los Jóvenes y la Familia |
| CB | Children’s Bureau Oficina para los Niños |
| ECD | Office of Early Childhood Development Coordinación Interinstitucional para el Desarrollo en la Primera Infancia |
| FYSB | Family and Youth Services Bureau Oficina de Servicios para la Familia y la Juventud |
| OCSS | Office of Child Support Services Oficina de Cumplimiento de Manutención de Menores |
| OCS | Office of Community Services Oficina de Servicios a la Comunidad |
| OFA | Office of Family Assistance Oficina de Asistencia Familiar |
| OFVPS | Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services Oficina de Servicios y Prevención de Violencia Familiar |
| OCC | Office of Child Care Oficina para el Cuidado de Menores |
| OHS | Office of Head Start Oficina de Head Start |
| OHSEPR | Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response Oficina de Preparación y Respuesta para Casos de Emergencias en Servicios Humanos |
| OLAB | Office of Legislative Affairs and Budget Oficina de Asuntos Legislativos y Presupuesto |
| OPRE | Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation Oficina de Planificación, Investigación y Evaluación |
| ORO | Office of Regional Operations Oficina de Operaciones Regionales |
| ORR | Office of Refugee Resettlement Oficina de Reasentamiento de Refugiados |
| OTIP | Office on Trafficking in Persons Oficina sobre la Trata de Personas |
Commonly Used Acronyms
| ACRONYM | FULL NAME/SPANISH TRANSLATION |
|---|---|
| DLL | Dual Language Learner Niños que Aprenden en Dos Idiomas |
| FCC | Family Child Care Cuidado Infantil |
| FY | Fiscal Year Año Fiscal |
| HHS | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos |
| IDA | Individual Development Account Cuenta de Ahorro Individual |
| MOE | Maintenance of Effort El Mantenimiento |
| SAC | State Advisory Council El Consejo Estatal de Asesoría |
| T/TA | Training Assistance Asistencia de Capacitación |
| TA | Technical Assistance Asistencia Técnica |
| UC | Unaccompanied Children Niños no Acompañados |
Commonly Used Terms
A list of commonly used words and their Spanish translation.
- Act - Ley
- Adoption - Adopción
- Child Abuse - Abuso de Niños
- Child Care - Cuidado de los Niños
- Child Support - Manutención de los Hijos
- Disorder - Trastorno
- Domestic Violence - Violencia Domestica
- Early Head Start - Cuidado Infantil
- Fatherhood - Paternidad
- Foster Care - Orfanato
- Early Childhood — La Primaria Infancia
- Healthy Marriage - Matrimonio Saludable
- Homeless Youth - Jóvenes sin hogar
- Human Services - Servicios Humanos
- Human Trafficking - Trata de Personas
- Teen Pregnancy - Embarazo Adolescente