DATE: Friday, May 16, 1997                  TAG: 9705160697

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                    LENGTH:   40 lines

HUNT'S FAMILY ADVISER VISITS NORTHEASTERN N.C.

Robin Britt is Gov. Jim Hunt's utility infielder who came to Elizabeth City this week to hit, run and pitch for North Carolina children who need help.

Britt, the governor's policy adviser on families, children and non-profit organizations, visited Elizabeth City on Wednesday and Hertford on Thursday.

``That man is really neat,'' said Rhonda Martin, president of the Elizabeth City Chamber of Commerce.

``I don't know of anyone but Robin Britt who could explain North Carolina's new welfare reform program to a bunch of hungry people eating breakfast,'' she said.

Britt's job rates an office just down the hall from Hunt's big desk in the state Capitol.

He has acquired a lot of on-the-job training in Raleigh and Congress. He is Hunt's main man in sorting out policy issues involving children and families.

Britt, 54, was Hunt's secretary of human resources from 1993 to 1997, running the second-largest state department with a budget of $6.3 billion and 18,000 employees.

Britt oversees an immensely complicated collection of new social programs including Smart Start, Support Our Students, The Governor's Crackdown for Children, and tighter supervision of rest and nursing homes.

Britt mostly walked to headquarters of various Elizabeth City agencies that he visited, includingSocial Services, Albemarle Hopeline, Albemarle Manna, and a quick lunch with Pasquotank County Manager Randy Keaton and the Smart Start staff.

Then on to Kids Only Day Care Center and a visit to the Economic Improvement Council with Lillian Dance, program director.

By 4 p.m. Britt, who served in Congress from 1983 to 1985, was on his way to visit Dr. Joe Peel, superintendent of Elizabeth City-Pasquotank County schools at Pasquotank Elementary School.

School principals, PTA leaders and a large group of teachers in the local school system showed up for the reception.

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