Social worker Anton J. Gunn (photo right) is the director of External Affairs in the Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

According to HHS, Gunn is the principal adviser for cultivating and maintaining relationships with external stakeholders for HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Gunn represents the secretary in direct official dealings with national, state and local external organizations.

Before serving as the director of External Affairs, Gunn was the regional director in the Region IV office of the HHS, covering Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

The agency stated that before his federal service, Gunn represented District 79 in the South Carolina House of Representatives. He received a BA and an MSW from the University of South Carolina.

Social workers were appointed to the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities. They are NASW member Michael Petit, president and founder of Every Child Matters Education Fund; and Marilyn Zimmerman, director of the National Native Children’s Trauma Center at the University of Montana.

The commission will implement the provisions of the Protect Our Kids Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law in January.

NASW, as a member of the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths, was pleased with the passage of the bill.