What are Title 42 Federal Government Employees?

Title 42 refers to a broad section of U.S. federal code that created and maintains the public health and welfare bureaucracy. Thousands of federal employees fall under Title 42's strictures, serving a variety of public health needs across the country. From researchers studying the latest in vaccines to administrators of Social Security, Title 42 governs a wide range of jobs that touch American lives.

Health, Science

• Title 42 covers numerous public-health-related agencies for which thousands of federal employees work. This includes the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, the National Science Foundation, the National Research Institutes and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. It also maintains the national school lunch program, upkeep at various American-Indian hospitals and clinics nationwide, as well as programs for the developmentally disabled.

Housing

• Many federal workers administer programs under Title 42 that have to do with the housing and overall welfare of American citizens. From the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which develops low-income housing nationwide and seeks to ensure fair housing laws, to programs for urban redevelopment and handicapped accessibility, several chapters of Title 42 seek to raise the bar for all citizens. This also include employees that focus on disaster relief efforts and lead-paint poisoning prevention.

General Welfare

• Some workers under Title 42 manage entitlement programs, such as the Social Security Administration and a unemployment compensation program, but the notion of welfare is much broader than that. The Department of Energy and its various programs, such as the National Nuclear Security Administration seek to improve our lives through research and utility safety. Other programs focus on curbing age discrimination, delinquency, alcoholism, drug abuse, detainee mistreatment and religious persecution.

Environment

• The Environmental Protection Agency is perhaps the most well known of Title 42 programs that address our environment, but many others seek to address the issue of improving our natural world. The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission regulates and safeguards nuclear plants and weapons stockpiles. A federal grant program pays scientists to research new technologies, like solar, biofuel and wind power. A federal service also provides assistance to redevelopment efforts by studying soil content or improving solid waste disposal. Title 42 workers also maintain the Alaskan petroleum reserves.

Others

• Several other agencies and programs fall under Title 42 that deal with the welfare of citizens in other ways. A prominent example is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Others include law enforcement efforts to lessen violent crime and prison rape, improve the reporting of missing children through "Jennifer's Law" or monitor overseas adoption or poison control.